The Auction Of Magic: Chicago Part 2
by Sylo Corden
Summary: Ghost finally makes her way into Chicago to find this mysterious device she has been sent to recover, but what she finds there is much more dangerous . . .
1. Chapter 1

Chicago. The no man's land city. It's great skyscrapers now hollow's of their former selves, and only the inner city still showed signs of life. The dilapidated edges wreathed in shadow and every dark corner held the promise of danger. It had not always been so, it had once been the hub of development and commerce, how times had changed . . .

In the early 21st century the world had been turned upside down, magic was creeping back into existence and the creatures and beings from myths and fairy tales were becoming flesh and blood. It started with a few defective births, children with odd physical mutations, some grew to be beautiful, fair and light, others were hideous, great tusks and bulbous heads constantly set in a frown at the mistreatment of the people in the world around them.

The changes were slow at first, then an explosion of these births happened. Many blamed radiation, others thought of them as government experiments. It wasn't long before humans developed magic, real magic. Manipulation of the elements and delving into people minds; military operations across the world latched on to these individuals, their defence against the orcs and trolls which were appearing. But of course as in all things there were those who sought them out to be the aggressors. And twenty years ago it is for this reason that the Brotherhood were able to cross into our world.

A high concentration of magic users broke rank from their party and cast a spell, a big spell, one to rip open the very fabric of reality. The reasons behind why they did this are still not clear, nor are they for public record, but for anyone with a hacker like mine you can get a basic idea of events, security software of twenty years ago is nothing compared to now.

One thing is certain, for whatever reason this tear was made, no-one expected there to be something waiting on the other side.

The brotherhood is a race of insectoid monsters from a different dimension entirely to our own. The tear opened the gateway for them to break through, and for a world new to its magical capability the result was complete devastation. Chicago was overrun with monsters in a matter of hours, thousands died in less than a day. The world as one reacted to the new threat. Mages from across the world were brought in to erect a shield, a strong one. Two thousand mages stood in arms, four hundred thousand trolls, orcs, elves, human pushed back the horde to assist the mages in closing the rift.

The gap closed but the remains of a cracked Chicago was declared a neutral territory, highly secured at its perimeter should the Brotherhood return. There were some that stayed within the boundary line, a few who formed gangs to patrol the streets, and those who could not afford to move away, some that stayed became susceptible to the energy and bacterial clouds that leaked from the cracks and mutated. Those that stayed became trapped by quarantine, nothing in Chicago goes in or out without strict paperwork.

 **A/N:** Hi guys, thanks for reading, this is the second part in the Chicago campaign played out by the RPG team, if you haven't read The Blood Seal: Chicago Part 1 then this might not make a lot of sense. I'm also not completely finished writing this story yet so there'll be a few delays between chapter uploads. A special thanks goes to Anna Lakisova (fabulous artist) who gave me permission to use the cover picture for this story. I don't own this story, the background is from Catayst Games and the main storylines are all created by our Games Master, we're just playing along.

This campaign ended up being huge, it took weeks and weeks to get through and as a result a lot of the nitty gritty details of what we did are sort of lost in time, so I've tried to fill these gaps where I can and at least provide a story that free to check out my other wors and thanks for those who have so far read my stories and provided valuable feedback!

Cheers! xxx


	2. Chapter 2

"They seriously decided to hold their auction here?" Lathain muttered as we walked through quarantine "nutters" I half smiled at him, of all the people I knew Lathain was the most aptly described as a "nutter"

"With the no legal ownership of Chicago it's perfect neutral territory" Wizbit reminded him "the church don't even own any land here, it's entirely private owners who have built their own enterprises here, but since they can't trade outside of the corridor they're small and without the power of the mega corps, means there are no rules either on what would otherwise be clandestine activities"

"Gotta marvel how peeps find a way around the system" Conway mumbled, he looked very uncomfortable without his truck which he had been forced to leave behind to undergo decontamination, but he didn't fancy the idea of his _baby_ being in gang territory either.

We walked through the final gate of the corridor barrier into an empty city; there was not a soul in sight. The streets were barren of life, and many of the buildings were damaged, office blocks opened to the outside world, letting in the rain and sleet and sun, most windows high enough for a meta human to throw were broken and glass littered the sidewalk.

As we walked I began to notice some signs that we weren't the only people around, some second story windows had been replaced with either bullet proof glass or heavily barred, neon signs still flashed at the old doors, now controlled by a buzzer intercom, a security measure for those with businesses to control who came by, the second story doubling as a strong hold if needed. In the distance the sound of an engine could be heard. But the life of outside, the birds, the insects, the presence of plants, grasses and even weeds were totally void from the picture.

"Cheery place" I said, I noted some movement in front of us "how far until we get to the auction house?"

"Oh we're not going to the auction house first" Lathain said "We need to get an invite to the place, and there's really only one big wig in this city to get one from, so we're starting there" he paused "but I think we'd better find some cover first" I looked ahead and saw the dust kicked up by several bikes, the roar just now reaching our ears

"Who are they?" I asked

"Ramblers" Wizbit supplied, "thieves and bullies, they'll attack any new comers on foot, they're easy targets, the claxton of the quarantine gates signalled our arrival" K.C shrugged and shouldered her weapon

"And?" she asked, I admired her spunk but we really needed to get to this auction in one piece. Lathain led us through a maze of alleyways to an old slaughterhouse and banged hard on the door. "Why are we stopping here?" K.C asked, in the distance the sound of the Claxton went off again as someone else entered the dead city.

"Just got a call from Whisperer saying to start here" Wizbit said, he looked sideways at K.C "Don't you two know each other? I'd have thought you'd be told too" K.C's face went beetroot in rage, it was clear she thought Whisperer should be given a doing over for ignoring her, she was still on the base in her mind and therefore felt she outranked him.

"Geraldine, Hacker" Lathain said "Why don't you two take a step back for a while, take Adam with you to meet up with Whisperer" something in his voice made him sound like he didn't trust Whisperer to be alone "We'll catch up with you later" Lathain banged harder on the door as the Orc and Gnome slunk off, presumably with Adam in toe "Whisperer needs your comm. number" Lathain reminded them as they disappeared

Wizbit glanced my way "Whisperer says you're to get a com too Ghost, he says he might need to pass info to you and he doesn't like not being in touch" I heard the laughter in Wizbit's voice, despite the thought of someone wanting me to wear comm. gear I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Awww babe, he wants your number" KC laughed, I punched her in the arm, hoping that the heat I could feel creeping up my face wasn't showing, I quickly got back to reality when the door we had knocked upon fell into shadow.

A troll face appeared in the window of the door front and there was a muffled exchange before the door opened, the troll stood in the doorway, he was huge even by troll standards and completely dressed in black were it not for the tiny red heart badge on his collar, the number three etched into it, such a difference to the rest of his attire it stood out, the troll noticed me looking and sneered at me.

"Card?" he asked me, I shrugged and shook my head

"No idea what you mean" I told him, he growled and turned his back to shut the door, I recalled the ten of clubs I had found but kept my mouth shut, it wouldn't matter now, but I made a note to keep an eye open for more "cards"

"Woah mate" Wizbit said holding his hand out to the troll, "the Seven of Diamonds asked me to call in on you" clearly this was the wrong ianswer, I had no clue if the seven of diamonds was a bad choice in cards or if the troll could tell that Wizbibt was lying, a swift fist drove through Wizbit's stomach and sent him flying, the troll straightened his collar and walked back inside shutting the door with a slam, in the distance the roar of wheels got louder.

"Hey man, you OK? Convoy asked helping Wizbit up

"This is why I don't like being the front man" Wizbit wheezed, "I'm more of a meant to not be seen and not really heard either" he nodded to Lathain "your turn"

"Little late for that" Lathain said, "we should get some cover, those Ramblers are heading our way" he looked up "and there's more than just a fight brewing" he nodded to the sky which at first looked like it was simply clouding over, until I saw the colour of the cloud, a deep purple, and it hummed with magic "you'll need to steer clear of that Ghost" he said

"What is it?" I asked, we began to move around the block to a large dilapidated apartment building, sliding through the broken door, Wizbit cleared his throat and pounded his chest, still winded from the blow.

"Bacterial cloud, it's attracted to your magic, I hear that mages who get caught in it loose their powers" he gave me a slight grin "why do you think I'm not in my "invisible man" costume?" I shrugged then had a thought

"What about Adam, he's invisible, won't he come to harm?"

"No idea" he said looking around, forgetting for a moment that Adam was no longer around "the spell that changed him is a permanent one, could be that coming into contact with it would mean he's cured, or because the spell is now part of his makeup it could be that he'll suffer a lot of harm as the cloud eats away at him, I'd keep an eye open in case you get your coat stuck too, I know it's designed to hide astral signatures but don't know if that too will serve as an attraction, maybe the opposite and a deterrent, but I'd keep clear just in case"

I looked to the sky again "it's moving against the wind" I said in awe

"oh yeah, it has a mind of its own" he told me "remember, try not to use your magic if you can help it unless you know the coast is clear" We moved away from the doorway to the side of an open office block. The lower floor was missing most of its walls but the concrete stairs were strong and the upper floor would give us the advantage. I hunkered down next to KC, her eyes trained down the scope of her rifle at the oncoming ground dust that made up the front of the biker group known as the Ramblers

"You think we could get out of here without attracting attention?"

"Doubt it" KC said


	3. Chapter 3

"I'd get down if I were you" KC said, just as she finished a shot rang out, the sound sharp in the air I ducked back behind the wall, the return fire of KC's rifle sounded explosive.

"You don't have a silencer on that thing?! " Lathain screeched at her as he set his pistol, he shook his head to clear the noise from them and slid down at a window as far he was physically possible.

"Nope" she said with a toothy grin "no man ever survived long enough to complain about it" she laughed and let off another round or two, I felt a little useless. Without my magic I had no real offense until they were in range of my knives, my pistol spent from the underground base, I thought to sit it out, KC handed me a heavy desert eagle pistol, I fired the brute once and nearly ripped my arm off in the process; rather than risk further injury I called positions out to KC, Wizbit did the same, his own magic useless with the cloud so close. Convoy had moved off to another room, sound of shots could be heard in the adjoining corridor.

"I should try and help Convoy" I shouted over the din, K.C paused her onslaught just long enough to hand me a smaller pistol, lighter and easy grip

"It's kickback is a bitch" she warned then moved back to firing. I slid away towards the door, using a broken overturned table as cover; I rolled into the next room and pointed my gun towards the window, to my surprise Convoy wasn't firing from that window, but the opposite side.

"They're in the building" he said half dragging himself toward the corridor, pointing his gun down the opposite stairs we had come up by "the main group up were a distraction for us, I'm not sure if I can hold them off" he ducked down low as shots rang over the broken window, blood oozed down the side of his face "They hit my comm. unit" he explained, "they've had me pinned" _Which means that Lathain, KC and Wizbit don't know they're here_ I thought.

I grabbed Convoy's arm and pulled him towards me, his leg was bleeding and he'd taken other shots, but how many I didn't know, I dragged a fallen and empty bookcase in front of us for some cover

"Here" I handed him the pistol "use this and buy me a moment or two" I told him, I tugged at his leggings and tore open a hole to survey the damage, ugly red smears greeted me back. "I need to seal this or you'll bleed out" I told him, he gritted his teeth and nodded.

No sooner had I gathered together some energy then a rambler burst through was little was left of the door, luckily for us he fired in the direction of the window, not seeing we were to the left of him, he swung his rifle our way and I pulled hard on Convoy, rolling both of us towards the wall, I felt a burn of heat on my shoulder and pressure in my ears popped hard. When I opened my eyes we were both in the same room as KC and Lathain, leaning against the wall that now vibrated with popping bullets from the other side.

"That's a neat trick" Convoy said groaning as he righted himself. His face turned green and he promptly leaned over and vomited. I didn't know if it was from blood loss or the magic.

Lathain pulled a clip from his belt and flung it into the hallway, our pursuers would have to use the long route to get to us. The explosion rocked the floor and the team bolted through the adjoining door, another clip left behind us as we went. Wizbit shouldered Convoy and we ran as hard as we could; slipping between the doorways as KC and Lathain blew away the opposition. We ran down office corridors until we hit a set of stairs, all but jumping them two at a time. Convoy hit the bottom and went limp, barely conscious

We barrelled through a doorway into an alley, though the sound of guns was still loud it now seemed to be directed between the fighters inside. "What on earth?" Lathain began

"Must be a rival gang" Wizbit said "it would explain why they were able to swing round so quickly, the Ramblers must think we're with the other lot" he signed "small mercy really" Lathain led us to the alleyway exit and paused to take a look around

"Errr, how bad did you say that cloud was for you?" he asked Wizbit, Wizbit paled and propped Convoy up on a couple of old pallets. "Then you'd better get moving" he said "it's heading this way" Wizbit nodded and started to move down the alley

"We'll meet up with you in a bit, I'll comm. you some coordinates" he started to take off but paused "Ghost aren't you coming?"

"In a minute" I said pressing on Convoy's leg, he looked pale and weak "I'll get him patched up first" I said

The conflict on Wizbit's face was clear, he wanted to help but if he was caught in the cloud it would be bad news for everyone, he threw me a med pack as he started backing down the alley "Ghost there's no time and the cloud will be attracted to you, get moving, KC can patch him" Wizbit turned and ran, his eyes told me that he was afraid, very afraid, but I couldn't go, not when Convoy needed help.

"Keep me informed as to the cloud's progress" I said, the gunfire above and in the building around was slowly stopping, others inside must have seen the cloud and were making their escape too

"It's almost at the alley entrance Ghost" Lathain warned, "go we got this"

I muttered a quick seal under my breath and placed my hand over the pulsing wound, "something to tide you over till I get back" I murmured, I looked up and saw the edge of the cloud, like a thick smoke appear at the entrance of the alleyway "KC get ready to drag his ass out, you'll need to tell Adam too if he's still in the area" Lathain and KC grabbed Convoy's arms and got ready to pull. I released the spell and heat pulsed over my hands and over the wound. Lathain let out a curse and I looked to see the smoke start directly towards us, curling around on itself until it looked like a small slow swirling tornado. Three . . . two. . . one

"Go!" I shouted to KC, Lathain just a second behind they tugged at Convoy and brought him to his feet

"Run Ghost, we'll be fine, it's after you" shouted KC and indeed the spiral was heading straight towards me, off center from the trio, I threw Lathain a quick grin and sprinted off down the alley. The cloud by passed KC and Lathain entirely, spinning now faster it began to chase me down.

Frantic I looked about at the buildings, all were broken, windowless and offered no cover, I could see no sign of Wizbit so didn't know which way to turn to meet up with him. I raced further into the city where there'd likely be more cover and I spotted an old warehouse in front of me. The door was intact and I could at least buy some time to see if the cloud could get through the gaps. I raced towards it, kicking up dust as I slid inside and rammed the door closed behind me, I didn't wait to see if the cloud had been stopped by the door, but tried to peer around the warehouse, now dark since the door was shut.

In the gloom my eyes made out a number of large white containers, a gentle hissing and a chill to the air told me these were refrigeration units, I move to one of the doors, locked. I jumped onto the top, there should be a safety hatch in the roof, designed to prevent lock ins. I looked to the warehouse door, the cloud was obviously outside as it blocked what little light seeped through the gaps in the walls and windows, but it was impossible to tell if it was simply outside or if it were using the gaps to its advantage. Better not risk it, I opened the hatch, dropping inside and slamming the lid shut behind me.


	4. Chapter 4

I breathed a sigh of relief in the pitch darkness, the air was cold and smelled strongly of blood, I stretched out a hand tentatively and felt something cold beneath my fingers, it gave and swung slightly, a more delicate exploration brought me into contact with leathery hide and short horns, large flat teeth appeared on my exploration. A cow. It was a meat delivery for the city, lucky me.

I felt something then against my neck, something warm, a breath. I flung out my arm in a strike, someone caught me by my wrist and kicked my legs from under me, catching only one I twisted but didn't go down, I used the momentum against my attacker and spun them over my shoulder, hearing a crack on impact and a clatter as something slid away.

I tried to move away and get back to the opening, but the icy floor made my feet slip and I stumbled over a crate of something heavy. I landed hard and heard a soft crack by my side a pool of orange oozed from my coat, illuminating my hands enough for me to grab a purchase on the crate and kick out at my attacker, he landed just as heavily and I grasped a knife from the holder in the small of my back. I flung droplets of the orange glow towards him, lighting him up so I could see him better. As I swung I hit a barrier, hard, solid and made from magic

"Damn Hellcat" came a hiss, my attacker rose up and brushed off his coat "Ghost it's _me_ , you can lower your knife now" the light from my glow stick glowed brighter and showed the face of Whisperer in the gloom "I'm not putting the barrier down until you drop the knife" he said calmly

"What the hell are you doing down here?" I asked rising as steadily as I was able on the slippery floor "and why the fuck would you attack me?"

"Wow, you have quite the potty mouth" Whisperer said wiping the blood from the edge of his mouth and hissing "and quite the elbow, how did you even know where I was to hit me?"

"Why did you even attack me in the first place?" I whipped back

"Ah well I didn't know who it was until your glow stick sprayed everywhere" he said "though I should have known from the smell of you"

"Smell?!" I couldn't help but keep the anger in my voice, _how insulting!_

"Yes smell, it's not every day your assassin smells of vanilla when you're in a freezer lock up, you still didn't answer my question on how you managed to attack me"

"And you haven't answered mine on what you're doing here" I said

"I'd have thought that obvious" he said "Same as you I'm weathering the cloud in here" he smiled "unless you think that I like these kinds of places?"

"I don't know what you like" I said, "you could be into anything" I rummaged around in my bag for the broken glowstick, two had broken, but only one had split, I placed then out in the open on the crate to get the best glow and shook another into life. I shook out the contents of my pack, finding an old grease cloth to wipe and cover the glowing stains on my back pack; it wouldn't do to be seen unintentionally.

"You're hurt?" Whisperer questioned stepping forward, in the light of the glowstick the blood on my hands could be seen, still slightly sticky, but dry and flaky in areas.

"Convoy" I said, "he's hurt pretty bad, but I managed to slap a patch on him before I had to leg it out of there, KC and Lathain are with him" I remembered the pain in my arm from the Rambler fight and ginergly felt my shoulder. just a graze and nothing too bad. Ilooked up and down Whisperer's shirt "what about you?" I said "Why are you covered in blood?"

"Oh some slip of a girl decided to elbow me in the face and re-break my nose" he laughed a little and a look came over his face as though he'd remembered something, taking up a glow stick he turned in the freezer a while searching for something, when he righted himself he was clutching his glasses, black and thick rimmed, he placed them tentatively on his swollen nose, that must have been the clatter I had heard during our struggle

"Why do you wear those?" I asked "You obviously don't need them"

"They're my way of measuring a person" he said taking them off to clean them "I can use them to judge a person's next move, if they fall off I know my adversary is likely to take a cheap shot next time around so I can be ready for them" I cringed, I had played against such tactics when we had first met, that explained a lot

"Where are Adam and the others?" I asked "I thought they were supposed to be with you?" Whisperer nodded

"We got separated by the cloud, they're not far, Hacker is with Adam and Geraldine is looking for Lathain" he said, he cursed and spent a moment adjusting his glasses on his swollen nose.

"How long have you been a runner?" I asked curiously

"What is this? Twenty questions?"

I shrugged "We've nothing else to do in here until we're sure the cloud has disappeared from the area, and I'm curious" I admitted

"Why should I have to answer all the questions? You won't answer any of mine" he said, this was true of course, I had no intention of answer a single one of his questions, but I felt like I had to say something. Whisperer must have thought the same "I've not been a runner per say for very long" he said "I had a mentor when I was a child to help me learn about my magic, he would tell me stories of his exploits, but I never wanted this kind of life. I was actually a barman" he laughed as if the concept seemed obscured to him now

"Barman?" I asked, "So how did you end up here?"

"I used to listen to my people in my bar, and where information was needed I'd pass it along, one day I turned up blindfolded and in the underground cavern you found me in, guess I whispered to the wrong person." He looked at me and took in a breath "So I'm going to ask anyway, what made you a runner?"

"I killed a man when I was fourteen, been running ever since" I told him, not a lie but not the whole truth either

"And the aversion to a comm. unit?"

"I was betrayed" I said, my voice hitched slightly at the thought, Emmet, I hadn't thought of him for near a year now, the times when I would think of him seemed to be getting longer and longer "I've never had one since" I told him "and never will"

"Wow that's a story in itself" he whistled "I'll butt out for now but maybe one day you'll let me in close enough to trust me with a secret"

"One day?" I asked. He blushed hugely and turned away

"Forget it" he said "I forget sometimes that we're from two different worlds"

"And which world do you think I belong in?" I asked curiously "from where I'm standing we seem to be in the same world right now, isn't that all that matters?" he looked at me with a look of puzzlement

"You know I haven't figured you out yet" he said "you're high class, all grace, but you pack a punch like a racehorse kicks and you've a lot of magic, and I mean _a lot_ , but you don't seem to know how to control it, which is weird, you're friendly enough and seem open, you don't really lie but you don't tell the whole truth either, it's like you're hiding from something and that the person you are is a shield or whatever and I've been babbling haven't I?"

I nodded "a lot" I said "you're not wrong though, they should call you "the observer", or something similar, or "the stalker", how long have you been watching me?" to this Whisperer turned bright red

"Well I haven't, I mean well of course I've seen you and seen what you're capable of and stuff but you're . . . well you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago" he said "You look a lot like her" he admitted

"Her?" I asked "a former interest?"

"No!" the response was instant "I mean, no she was someone I met in passing, she pulled me out of a fix that I didn't even know I was in, a good person, kind, gentle, she helped me . . ."

"And you think I remind you of someone like that?" I asked and laughed, "I'm neither kind nor gentle" I told him, he just laughed softly at that

"That's a lie" he said "I've seen a lot of runners in my time"

"In your time?" I asked laughing, "You make it sound like you're an old man"

"I feel it" he said "I suppose I'm not all that old really, this doesn't help my youthful appearance" he indicated an old scar on his cheek "adds about ten years, and the lack on any form of vitamin D from the facility has bleached the rest of my charming good looks"

I burst into laughter, I couldn't help it, here we were, stuck in a freezer unit, in the middle of a city renowned for death and destruction, being chased by a strange cloud that threatened to suck all the magic from our bodies after surviving an escape from a base which threatened to destroy all metahumans, no sleep in two days and no telling how much further this journey would take us and he was worried about getting enough sun.

He looked at me shocked for a moment, before smiling and chuckling to himself too, I calmed the laughter down then pondered aloud

"So where'd your journey take you this morning?" I asked

"Nowhere much" Whisperer said "I just found that the seal was broken when the trains crashed, but the project looked to be flawed from the beginning"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the mage they got to draw the circle must have double crossed them, the whole event wouldn't have worked, I've analysed that circle since we came across it and there's nothing to say it would work"

"Is that your assessment or has someone confirmed this for you?"

"It's from what I've been able to piece together so far, it was a project installed to keep the makers of the gun unit happy, the gun is a commission piece and it's the gun that holds the real magic, so to speak. The facility was used because they had the resources, and to sweeten the deal they were given a fake seal, it's dangerous true, but it's a contact seal only, and the amount of magic you'd need to use it exceeds even your level of juice, to pull it off an such a huge scale would be beyond the magic of this world"

"There are other worlds" I told him "the carcass in Tibet wasn't from this plane, the brotherhood were from somewhere outside this world, if there is magic there then who's to say it couldn't be done"

"Hmm" Whisperer pondered this hard "I hadn't thought of that, I'd better take a look at the circle again, go back to my contact" he paused then his face lit up as if a Eureka moment had occurred. "Ghost" he said "You're a genius"

 _What?_


	5. Chapter 5

Whisperer grinned at me in the orange glow, "You said the Brotherhood" he said, his tone implying that the statement should make everything fall into place

"Yeah, what of it?" I asked, not really getting the connection

"We'd forgotten that the Brotherhood have their own form of magic" he said "They said it's how they opened the rift in the first place"

"And that's relevant how?" I asked, I might be a mage but I still had a lot to learn about magic

"Well suppose the seal isn't for the purpose they originally intended" Whisperer said "What do we know about the seal?" he asked

"It's something to do with wiping out the meta human races?" I guessed "It was set up by a purist faction, so they want to create a seal big enough to target a large area, fuelled with blood to target metahumans" I gave him a confused look "Isn't that what it was for?"

" _M_ _aybe_ " Whisperer said "or maybe they just thought it was for that" he tapped on his comm. unit and brought up a map of the area, showing the base near Prairie Creek and Chicago. "This is the train tracks they built to link the base and Chicago" he said zooming in "This is the reservoir you stopped in where they dammed off the Kankakee River" he hovered there noting the rail tracks that cut through the desert region, the tracks from here lead to Chicago, they bypass what's left of the old green country and stick to the fall out desert area" he explained

"That just tells us that they didn't want the railroad to be discovered" I said "they're covering their tracks"

"It has that additional advantage yes but look closely at where the tracks go" he said The map in front of me had a rough drawn line which sat within the desert region "that desert hasn't always been there" he said

"I know, it's from one of the wars" I said "I did history in school" I told him

"It's from one of the first _mage_ wars" he reminded me "the whole area is full of magic energy, by driving through the area and dumping blood they could potentially channel the latent magic in the area and add it to the magical strength of the circles"

"So they've juiced up their circle, that's how they were going to power it" I summed up "guess they had enough juice after all" I said

"Looks like" Whisperer said "then if you take into account all the magic that Chicago has . . ."

"I thought the clouds meant that Chicago didn't have any magic, at least not strong magic" I asked, he gave me a look that told me he was getting to the point, I held up my hand and gestured he should continue

"Chicago itself doesn't have a lot of magic, but the corridor does" he said "look" he brought up a picture of Chicago, the city by the lake surrounded on all land sides by the buildings known as the corridor, even lake side there were man made islands which held posts to prevent people entering. "The corridor and the mage barrier they erected all those years ago provides the second circle" he said "the train was suppose to drag magical energy from the mountains to the corridor to fuel the spell" he sounded pleased with himself

"But that doesn't tell us what the spell is suppose to do" I said, I could understand the magic but not the motive.

"You said so yourself" Whisperer said "The brotherhood" he looked at my blank face, I couldn't connect the dots, he sighed and connected them for me. "The line between worlds is weak here, weak enough to be broken if the barriers go down, you just need something, an event to set off the reaction to bring the barrier down and wipe out the defence." It all started to make sense

"So you're saying the circle in the base is supposed to be the thing that destroys the barrier and allows the brotherhood to come back?" I asked

"That's the best theory I have so far" Whisperer said "I'll have to talk to a lot of people to confirm it though" he said

"What about the weapon then?" I asked "how does that fit?"

"No idea" he admitted "it might be a back up in case the barrier doesn't go down, or it may have been created to be used in case the barrier does" he said "I have no idea if there are opposing people in this fight, it might be that the device is needed to start the rift opening, or it's a weapon to fight the brotherhood" he shrugged "Maybe they want to open the rift to exterminate them?"

"Whatever it is we need to get that weapon" I told him "and we need to make sure that they can't build another circle" Whisperer grinned at me

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that" he said "the base is as good as gone, Nate and Dean saw to that" I had forgotten about the two young lads from the base, I was glad to hear they were alright "And it'll take another five years or more to gather the amount of blood they need" he said.

I sat down on a crate and blew warmth into my hands, aware of how cold it was in here.

"So what's your plan now?" I asked "off to find more answers or are you coming back to the others with me?"

"Oh I've a ways to sort things yet" he said "I've an audience with Napper's people; Lathain is going to chase this Spook person. I'll probably meet you at the auction house; my contact is going to put me forward as a bidder, give me a chance to steal it"

"Have you found the auction house?" I asked

"Yup, Lathain got pinged the location about a half hour ago, he and KC are going that way now, they'll have to double back from where they are so may even pick us up on the way, the auction is tonight, he's got just enough time to meet up with this Spook, they want to bid on the weapon too, sent him to the guy's underlings, but he'll need a card to get in, they're charging 30,000 Nuyen just for attending too"

I whistled at the amount, "A playing card?" I asked

"Why? Do you have one?" Whisperer was instantly curious, I could feel the slight wave of magic roll from him, I bit back my snap, he was using magic, but I got the impression he didn't realise he was using it.

"No" I lied smoothly, the pull of the compulsion couldn't hit me "one of the bouncers of a club we started at wore a pin badge with a playing card motif" I said "it kind of stood out, I wondered if it meant something" Whisperer visibly relaxed and the ebb of magic rolled away.

"Oh, right, never mind" he said

"Why?"

"No reason" his lying wasn't so smooth, but I relinquished the desire to pull him up on it, he wasn't part of my team, I didn't even know him, let him keep his secrets. I shivered from the cold; the freezer's bite starting to penetrate the warm folds of my coat and tucked my hands deep into my pockets. "Cold?" he asked

"Peachy" I murmured back, snuggling into my collar to protect my neck , with my hair up the freezer chill blew straight down my back, I pulled the thin chopstick from my hair and let it fall loose to just above my waist, should serve as a bit of a barrier. Whisperer watched the whole process, something playing in his mind that I probably didn't want to know about, I looked about to find a suitable seat, one of the crates was empty bar a few handfuls of straw. I turned the crate over and sat down, padding the box with the straw and shifting my pack as I tucked my legs up creating a tight a ball as possible.

"I could heat you up a little" Whisperer said. I gave him a blank look and waited for him to catch up, it didn't take long "Oh God, no, I meant with the cold and the air . . . and in a non sexual way, thing. . ." he was flushed bright red; I resisted the urge to hold my hands over his burning face to warm them. He moved back into a corner of the freezer, and I could hear him mumbling to himself in admonition. It was actually kind of cute. . .

 _Ghost, what is it with you and this guy? Or any guy? You were like this when you met Lathain for crying out loud, seems any pretty boy can turn you head these days_.

My mind scolded me, I reminded my brain that Lathain was an _elf_ and therefore every human would find him attractive, even the guys probably, my brain huffed at me in annoyance and pointed out that Whisperer wasn't an elf, he was also a stranger and that if I really didn't think things like that then how come I'd yet to come up with an excuse as to why I was attracted to him.

I bundled that thought into a box, wrapped it in chains and dumped into the bottom of a large lake where it couldn't escape. Mildly annoyed with myself, it was true that I found him attractive, and he wasn't conventionally handsome either, his hair was a little too long for his face, the scar did make him look older than he might actually be, there were small whirring noises that told me he carried tech gear, an instance skin crawler . . . and yet I couldn't help but like him. I shook my head at myself.

"Did I say something out loud?" he asked from his corner, the question bringing me back to the present.

"What? Oh no, I was just thinking about something" I said

"Well you looked pretty peeved at whoever you were thinking about, I just worried it was me"

"Oh I have more important things to think about than you" I quipped a little sarcastically, perhaps a little too harsh as he slumped his shoulders, clearly a little put out by my comment. "When do you think it'll be safe to leave?" I asked

"Lathain is just checking the area" Whisperer said tapping his head to indicate the comm. signal "the cloud is still around for now, though it looks like it's moving off, he's estimating about a half hour or so before its far enough out of here to be safe" he tweaked at the glasses on his swollen nose

"I should probably fix that" I said getting up, he looked uncertain for a moment then nodded. I indicated that he should take my seat. I blew on my hands to warm them a little and let some energy spread. The warmth was instant over my body, had I figured this before I could have spared myself some discomfort. "Relax for me" I said quietly as a gently placed a hand over his forehead. His body felt rigid and tense, as if my touch had shocked him, I'd no need to discharge so I doubted that was the case, he was probably nervous. I gave him a look that I hoped would be soothing "relax . . ." I said as softly as I was able, "if your barrier is up then this wont work"

"Sorry" he mumbled and his shoulders softened and gradually let go of their tension. I let out enough energy to spread over his face, feeling the heat as the blood vessels mended themselves, the bone straightening, the damage from his earlier break was refined a little more, hoping to undo my earlier misfits too. Feeling a little drained I took a step back as I finished, lightheaded.

"All done" I said, his face looked a lot better, still a little pink and raw around the nose, but that would disappear in the next few hours, were it not for the blood on his shirt he would look fresh and ready for the day. He gingerly felt his nose

"That is definitely something I need to learn for myself" he said "thank you"

I shrugged "it was my fault" I said

"Well you still get my thanks" he said "Maybe you could teach me sometime" he said

"So I could teach you on the same day that I tell you everything about myself huh?" I asked a little cheekily, the reaction I had expected was instant, the flush as crimson as his swollen nose. "Sorry, I should stop teasing you" I said

"I should stop making it so obvious" he replied back "you're strange in that you put me at ease so much I let my guard down" he tilted his head to one side to look at me. "You're not using mind magic or something are you?"

"What?! No!" I said a little too sharp and a little too quickly, I shuddered involuntarily, "I hate that kind of magic, creeps me out, I mean who would use that? It's the worst kind of low to control people like that" his face fell and I remembered earlier that he'd used such techniques on me.

"Sorry, I don't use it by choice" he said "my mentor told me my force magic was like a freight train, but my mind magic is so subtle that I don't even know I'm casting it, my magic comes from inside me, rather than a pull or a pressure build" he explained

"Mine is more of a release" I admitted

"Yours is crazy strong" he said "and those marks of yours, I've only ever seen those kind of marks . . ." he trailed off, struggling to finish

"On dead people?" I supplied "Yeah, lucky me, I survived a fall out spell that should have killed me, the way the magic builds and fights to get out of me I'm not so sure it won't yet destroy me" I shuddered at the memory of it, of Wizbit moving away as if I had some weird contagion, just thinking about it made my skin heat. I glanced down and sure enough the glow beneath my shirt showed the pattern through, bright enough to glow even through the denim of my jeans

"Just how far do the marks go?" he asked, I felt a jolt of heat at his seemingly innocent request

"All down the left side" I told him, "right to my toes" he quirked an eyebrow at that, amused by some image playing in his head

"Are you going to be alright?" he asked noting the glow

"I've a short while yet" I told him "if not you'll have to leave the freezer for a few minutes" he gave me a sideways look "if I go out into the warehouse and let off out there the mage cloud might come back" I explained, his mouth formed a silent "O" and he shuffled back to his corner. I curled up on my crate and waited out the last half hour in silence.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ladies" Lathain's grin appeared in the opening of the freezer "Are we all comfortable down here?" he asked, I growled at him and took the hand he offered, he pulled me up as if it were nothing.

KC smiled at me from the floor, a floating lab coat told me we had found Adam, Geraldine stood a little way back checking the area outside the warehouse with Hacker "Hey Ghost, you cold or did someone scare the shit out of you?" KC asked her eyes laughing at me

I cocked my head to one side then looked down at the strands of hair that fell over my shoulders, turned white and frosty from the freezer. I heard a soft click before spotting Wizbit

"Sorry, I had to take a picture" he said a little apologetically "It looks good on you" I growled a little and ran my hands over my hair, trying to warm the strands to make it melt, which now only meant I had wet hair

"Right peeps, here's where we split" Lathain said grinning "We have our contact time for this Spook person so I say we head over" he looked to Whisperer "You're filling in for Napper's dude still?" Whisperer nodded his confirmation "Excellent, take Adam with you for now, he could come in useful, Bob our Ghoulish fiendish friend is now on the inside, so he'll meet you later, Once we have our contact details then we'll make a move to the auction house I say a few of us go in, the rest stay on the outskirts nearby"

"I'll stay outside" I volunteered

"No Ghost there's a strict no weapons policy in the club where the auction is being held, I need all magic users in there just in case things get ugly" Lathain said

"Don't worry babe" KC said tapping her assault rifle "I got your back"

"What about warding?" Whisperer asked

"No idea at the moment" Wizbit supplied, "but we need to make the assumption they'll have thought of that too" I pondered this a moment, by this discussion we would possibly be better with the guys who were better verse in hand to hand and I said as much

"Then I'm out" Wizbit said _I'm not really a front man_ I was reminded of his earlier comment, Lathain shook his head

"I'd prefer you were in there" he said "I was hoping to have you up as a front man for Spook"

"Weren't you going to do that?" KC asked, Lathain's face grew slightly pink with exasperation, there seemed to be too many players in the game and it was getting confusing.

"Okay, new idea" he said "Why doesn't Wizbit go for Spook, Whisperer for Napper and me and Ghost go in as back up? Each person who is attending has a chaperone ticket apparently so we can use that to our advantage, everyone else can stay outside, KC can cover our arses from the ground, Convoy can keep look out with Adam, the rest can hang back so if there is a problem we have a cavalry charge" he rambled this off quickly and was a little breathless at the end

"Why don't we just decide when we get there" KC supplied "We're wasting daylight here" she had a point. Whisperer took Adam and walked off to the North of the city, we took towards the south.

We had been walking for some time before anyone said anything, it was Convoy who broke the silence, suggesting that we perhaps not arrive at Spook's doorway as a whole group, heavily armed we certainly looked a bunch of misfits. This raised the valid argument that there really were quite the number of us all set to descend on the auction house later. Wizbit and Convoy went on alone to see Spook whilst the rest of us hung back, making our way slowly to the auction house, KC would need some time to survey the area and find the best routes of escape.


	7. Chapter 7

The auction house it turned out was actually a night club, deep into the city past the desolation of the outskirts it was still a hovel of a place with moonlighter women, bulk bouncers and blaring music. It didn't exactly scream the high class joint that you would expect a grand auction to be taking place, but then I reasoned that the auction was meant for evil doers, low lives and criminals to get their hands on a weapon so I suppose when you factor that into the equation it meant the bar was the right place.

K.C had met up with Bob, both they, Geraldine and Hacker and had spent the last two hours going over the area, looking up places to shoot from, or escape route, several were planned out. I tried without much success to gauge the magical warding on the building, with Lathain checking the comm. link availability. Even Wizbit on his return found it too difficult to crack

"How did it go?" I asked

"Well she seems nice" Wizbit said "I've got a big budget to play with" he looked about looking for Whisperer, to learn he was to stay with Napper's people until the auction. "Spook apparently cannot enter the club, she's not exactly forthcoming as to why, but I figure it might have something to do with the warding"

"I tried to sense the warding earlier" I told him "I couldn't do it" I paused a moment thinking "Why would the warding prevent her from coming in?" I asked

"I think she's a shifter" Wizbit said "Some types of wards will play around with a shifter's ability, prevent them from bringing out their claws, they'd be stuck in one form alone once they walked in"

"A shifter? You mean like a were wolf, or like cakador?" I asked, suddenly remembering the huge jaguar

"Maybe" Wizbit said "If she is a cat shifter it might make a bit more sense as to why she wants the device, one of her people was put through hell to make it"

We walked the perimeter one last time, spotting Lathain we wandered over to get his views

"Well you know what they say" Lathain said sideling up to me "location, location, location", it was dark and people were starting to arrive, the night walkers were gearing up for their evening work, trussing their hair and applying their lipstick.

Lathain tapped my arm and motioned to the entrance where Whisperer was seen escorting a heavily decorated Japanese woman into the bar. This must be his contact that he talked about. The woman was in her early forties at least and she was stunning, dark hair, dark eyes in a cream kimono that seemed to shine out in the darkness of the night. Unlike Whisperer who had to undergo a full body frisk on entry she was simply let in behind the frayed silk rope.

"So how do we get in?" I asked Lathain "Are we sticking with the multiple people idea? The more of us on the panel the better our chances"

"Well Wizbit is going in as our speaker for Spook, I was thinking I could go in as a buyer myself" he said, his eyes fixed on the door

" _You_ as a buyer?" I asked

"Sure" he shrugged "I actually have a lot of Nuyen, we could legitimately buy the bloody thing, rather than the espionage and subterfuge" he looked down at me and my confused face "what?"

I smiled "I must be getting old" I told him "my hearing isn't so good; I thought you just insinuated that you were going to go in as a legitimate buyer, with no fights"

"That's because I did" he said "Convoy might have had the right idea"

"And you have that kind of money?" I was shocked, I'd run a few jobs with Lathain, and sure he always seemed to be well paid, but I never figured he would actually have saved all the money he got . . .

Lathain settled for a simple smile and looked about "If I'm going in I should have an escort, and a better shirt" he glanced at his comm. unit "We've about an hour before the auction begins, we should try and find a store" Behind him the faint breath of shuffling feet told me Bob was behind us.

"One did notice a clothing outlet just a block away sir" the ghoul muttered "One believes you may find something suitable?" I grinned at the ghoul who gave a toothy smile back. I liked Bob, he was actually alright, for a skin eating monster.

Lathain and I investigated the outlet store, whilst it didn't sell particularly high class clothing there was a decent selection of basic clothes which were at the very least clean.

I pulled out a black blouse and fresh jeans, Lathain shook his head, instead holding up a cream and black dress, I thought about slapping him, but he might actually have a point. A pair of basic black flat shoes went with the outfit and I pinned back my hair to suit, the shorter strands at the front refused to stay pinned back, so I left them out to frame my face. I cleared up using some disposable wipes and bought an atomizer of perfume which didn't smell too strongly. I went without make up. My belongings were thrown into my back pack and given to KC who looked at me a moment as if I were a stranger

"Not bad" she said. I shrugged, the dress was cheap, the cream top made of a lycra material which stretched, the skirt full and made of cotton hung to my knees, the black pumps had laces up my legs and didn't match the black of the skirt, but I hoped that the lighting inside the club would be as dreary as the outside hiding the cheap material.

"What do you think?" Lathain stepped out of the changing room and I had to admit I liked what I saw. Dark trousers and smart suit shoes accompanied by a soft blue shirt open at the collar with no tie. They brought out the faint blue flecks in his otherwise green eyes, he looked smart, but casual enough to be a small player, he threw on a black jacket to hide the gun holster.

"Sexy" KC flirted "just pray the lighting is bad though, it's a tacky material" she said

"Itchy too" Lathain admitted, he looked to me and noted the dress "Is it a good idea to advertise your scars?" I shrugged, the dress had been his idea after all

"Some people find them sexy" I told him, my mind briefly flashing to Whisperer and our conversation in the freezer

"Oh I'm sure they do, but they might also find them intimidating" he said, I shrugged again

"I don't think that's a bad idea if I'm honest" I told him, KC nodded

"It shows you're a real player" she added, Lathain pondered it a moment then agreed.

We hurried back to the club, fifteen minutes left until the start of the auction Lathain presented himself as a bidder, the bouncer eyed me warily as he noted the lightning tattoos across my shoulders and legs, Lathain joked that a female body guard would always be better than a man, the bouncer did not share the sentiment. Lathain transferred the funds for entry and I flashed the ten of clubs card that I had picked up in the corridor, Wizbit had already gone inside with the seven of hearts, Spook's calling mark. No-one seemed to care that our card wasn't red; in fact no one seemed to care too much about a card anyway making me wonder really on its relevance. Lathain dumped his pistols at the door and we went inside.

We followed one of the lady in waiting's to a large smoking room on the top floor of the club, passing a mage barrier my ears popped a moment as the noise reducer swept past us, the thumping of the club could no longer be heard, though the vibrations still thrummed my feet.

The upper room was dimly lit, but surprisingly elegant, I couldn't tell if the elaborate décor was in place specifically for the auction or if this was the norm. It took a moment to find Wizbit, he had full authority of Spook to attend and hadn't bothered to change from his runners gear, others in the room had noticed and were giving him a wide berth. Almost all besides Wizbit were elegantly dressed holding petite glasses of bright cocktails, a waiter approached with a tray of champagne, Lathain took two glasses holding one for me, I took it but didn't drink, not really trusting the drinks here.

Lathain motioned for me to mingle and left me to speak with Wizbit, I didn't have to go anywhere as a second later I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"You scrub up nice, you know that?" Whisperer appeared beside me, he smiled and took my hand in mock introduction, bowing at the waist he kissed the back of my hand. I felt my face heat instantly, grateful that the dim light would hide my embarrassment, he laughed softly "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, though I do prefer this kind of introduction" he wore a dark suit, complete with tie and the glint of what looked like cufflinks "fewer broken noses" he joked

"You don't scrub up too bad either" I told him, he grimaced

"Whilst ordinarily I would prefer to wear a smarter attire I fear the Madame Kitsuou insisted I wear this, not exactly my best wear for the nights activities" he told me, he nodded to where the Japanese woman stood at the bar, her cream kimono beautifully made, making my cheap dress seem all the more like rags.

"Are you her escort or the other way around?" I asked him, he looked uncomfortable for a second, and apologised, moving away to see to the Ms Kitsuou who now waved him over from the bar, I rolled my question in my head but could find no reason why he would take offence to it, maybe he felt uncomfortable being around me.

I walked around the bar; a number of the men watched me as I went, wary perhaps of the scars that depicted me as a mage.

"Can I offer you a drink dear lady?" A soft thin voice said, I smiled graciously at an elderly gentleman who had approached me "the champagne is not all that appetising is it?"

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know" I told him honestly "I don't drink" I passed the still full glass to a passing waiter, the old man smiled

"I think you do, but if I were in your shoes I would want a keen head too" he laughed and held out a hand, I took it upon where he turned my hand over in his and planted a light kiss on the back of it as Whisperer had done. "My dear I hope you don't find me too rude for asking this, but what is a young, powerful and beautiful mage such as yourself doing in a place like this?"

"Work" I replied simply "I'm here with a client" I nodded to where Wizbit and Lathain were busy talking

"I see" the man said "Might I offer you some advice dear?" I looked at him surprised, what kind of advice would he have for me? The old man dropped his voice and leaned in to whisper. "I would avoid associations with the Storm" he said "His family are on to him, it is only a matter of time before they catch up" he leaned back, smiled then with a soft short bow he moved on, leaving me somewhat surprised.

Lathain wandered over "what was that all about? Did he say something to you?" before I could answer a soft gong filled the room and an attendant told us to take our seats.


	8. Chapter 8

The auction room was a long table around which a number of chairs stood, those who were to take part in the auction took a seat, guards were to either stand behind their employers or take a separate seat at the back of the room, most opted to stand behind their employers. Oddly it was Whisperer who took a seat rather than the Madame who took a place behind him, with Wizbit on his own he took his seat without accompaniment. I stood behind Lathain who lit a cigar that he had picked up from a waiter.

"Whisperer is here as the official representative of Napper" Lathain whispered to me, he blew out a circle of foul smelling smoke, drifting out to the centre of the table to meet the rest of the smoke from others in the room. "The Madame Kitsuou is to be his translator and body guard" I glanced to Whisperer who caught me looking, ignoring me he whispered to the Madame.

"He looks a little too comfortable" I told Lathain who nodded.

"Can you speak Japanese?" Lathain asked, I quirked an eyebrow

"Hai, dekimasu" I replied, I looked at me a second in relief, it took me a moment to realise what that meant "You don't speak a word do you?" I asked

"Not exactly no" he replied "They've cut the room of all comm. links bar the one used for the auction, so I can't get to my translation software" he glanced at me in his cheeky way "You'll just have to translate all the information and whisper it as sweet nothings in my ear"

I fought down the urge to smack him, instead sliding my hand across his back to his shoulder, I leaned down low and softly whispered "atashi o kamu" _bite me_ Lathain might not have understood the words, but he certainly got the message, bolt upright in his chair he shifted uncomfortably and took a drink of water from the table. Whisperer looked on at the display with obvious interest.

Each seated person received a palm pad with which to make their bid, the room went quite as an elderly Japanese man stepped forward.

"Yokoso" welcome I translated "Tōroku-bo ni anata no namae o nyūryoku shite kudasai" please enter your name on the register

Lathain dutifully filled in his identity profile and input the necessary account details that allowed him to enter the auction

 _Thank you all for coming, we are here to bid for private collection pieces presented to us by the Shikuomo and Ekurihen company_

I glanced at Lathain, the Shukuomo company was a subsidiary of my step father's mega corp, what part did he have to play in all of this? Lathain did not miss my apprehensive look; neither, it seemed did Whisperer who gave me a thoughtful look. There were several pieces of interest in the auction, there was a glass jar which must be some sort of famous piece judging from the furious bidding that it carried, a black cat statue from Egypt and others too bizarre to recount. All the while Lathain kept silent, occasionally bidding on items in the beginning to make it look as if he were here for other items besides the one we were really after.

 _This piece is a throwback from the mage wars, and is of the highest quality. The component materials are aluminium with a crystal . . ._

As I translated I tried to keep a straight face, the weapon was new, not old, it had been specifically designed for something, but this fact wasn't being given at the auction, it was simply being sold off as a historic piece. I didn't understand at first but then I realised that should an auction take place dealing in weapons then the Mega Corps would combine and shut the venture down, the government officials would insist upon such an action. However if the gun was to be sold as a historic piece then the auction could go ahead without the public being aware of it, _sneaky buggers_ . . .

The auction went on, the only noises of the soft mutterings of the translators. Wizbit had struggled initially, though when the bidding started in earnest he knew enough basic Japanese to continue. The costs mounted quickly, rising far over the amounts I had expected. It appeared as if Spook's funds were outbid quite early on as Wizbit was one of the first to sit back and relinquish his tablet, the amount kept getting higher, and higher.

Whisperer began to converse with his translator, obviously struggling with the amounts available, Lathain however simply sat back and kept bidding.

"Can you actually afford this?" I whispered to him

"Of course I can" he muttered concentrating on the tablet and surveying the room "I have to give legitimate bank details to even get in and once those details are shot then that's it, you're locked out" he leaned back and blew out another ring of smoke "If I'm still in the game then it means I'm still good" something in his voice made me wander

"Lathain" I groaned "Did you hack someone's account?" I braced myself for the obvious answer.

"Why would you suggest such a thing?"

"Because I know what you're like" I told him

"Actually" he said pausing to take another draw of the cigar "the funds are entirely mine, I just haven't used this account in a while" he glanced up at me "I would assume that you would find an account similar to this one in your name should you ever decide to come out in the open" he left it at that and returned to his tablet

 _A similar account . . . ?_ My brain processed this, turning the statement over in my head and then I remembered from Tibet _"my parents were at your funeral ghost"_ He had said. This meant he came from a higher society than he ever let on, and if his private funds were anything like the numbers I was seeing rolling over the main screen then they were _really_ high up the social ladder

"We should probably talk about this" I whispered to him "this will have something to do with the drake that was asking for you" Lathain looked to ponder that a moment

"We _could_ talk about it" he whispered "we could have a little one on one question and answer session" he looked at me hard for a moment, the intensity of his blue eyes lost all their humour "Sylo Corden vs Emmanuel Galinrin" he tweak an eyebrow at me, my poker face started to fail and so I turned away.

Galinrin were the highest house of elves in the world . . . Lathain couldn't possibly be one of them . . . The Galinrin were trade mark gods of beauty, most elves were beautiful but they set the bar, and it was set high. Galinrin were characterised by their striking platinum blonde hair, high cheek bones and blue eyes . . . but Lathain had green eyes . . . I couldn't decide if he was pulling my leg or not. A movement at the end of the table caught my attention; Whisperer was handing over his tablet, now outbid. That then left only three bidders, Lathain included. And then there were two.

The remaining bidder sat opposite Lathain, glaring at him, the man wore a military uniform, obviously angry that the bidding had continued to reach so high, Lathain simply sat back with that smug grin of his

"I can double that price" Lathain told the man "I'm not leaving here without the item, so why don't you just drop it now?" The man contemplated the idea for a second before slamming his tablet onto the table and storming off. And with that Lathain had the winning bid. The item was ours, _legitimately_ , behind me I caught Whisperer staring, the look on his face carefully blank, I couldn't read what his thoughts were, or indeed if they were for us, or against us.


	9. Chapter 9

The auction now finished the bidders who had won items stayed behind to mingle with the others until their items could be released to them. Wizbit wandered over and nodded to Lathain

"Ballsey move pulling that card" he said, Wizbit must have known who Lathain really was as he didn't seem surprised

"Its not like I'm going to use the money for anything else, though opening that account will tell them where to start looking for me" Lathain replied "Are you sticking around?" Wizbit shook his head

"No, they're clearing the floor for the transfer of goods, I didn't win any bids so I have to leave, I'll meet you out back with the rest of the crew" he glanced across at me "I'll get your gear ready so you can change out of that" he said

"Not the best outfit" I agreed with him, I was awarded with one of his rare smiles

"Actually I was just thinking what a shame it is that we don't take enough jobs where you have to dress up, you look really good" He took my hand and kissed the back of it before walking off leaving me stunned. I looked sideways at Lathain who was grinning madly from ear to ear.

"I wouldn't say a word if I were you" I told him, Lathain laughed

"I was just wondering who I could rip the crap out of more, you, Wizbit or Whisperer" he smiled "Honestly Ghost I really can't tell who is more out of it by seeing you in a dress" he pondered for a second "maybe Wizbit is right, maybe we should dress up more often" I felt my face heat in response and looked about to see who else was staying behind. Whisperer wandered over and took my arm

"We have a problem" he whispered, his hand flinched and withdrew as mild static nipped his skin

Lathain went instantly tense; hands reaching in his jacket for the pistols that he realised were no longer there and cursed loudly

"What's wrong?"

"They're moving the goods, someone is trying to steal them" Lathain said, looking about trying to suss out who was making that kind of move

"You mean aside from us?" I asked

"Hey, I bought this fair and square, _its mine_ " Lathain said, he flagged a waiter and asked about his weapons

"I am sorry sir, but the establishment have warded the building against magic and do not allow weapons on the upper floors for security reasons" the waiter said

Damn! So it was true they warded against magic, I had thought they would ward against certain spells, but no magic at all? No magic meant other than a good fist fight we were defenceless, the sound barrier must have also been a warding spell, beside me Whisperer flexed his hand

"I got nothing" he said grimly, Lathain moved to the back room where the auction had taken place

"Excuse me" he addressed two large trolls who were guarding the door where the items had been taken "I'd like to take my winnings and be gone as quickly as possible" the two guards looked at Lathain and then at each other before looking ahead, ignoring him, a soft rumble shook the floor and I looked to Lathain, the two guards glanced at the door a moment before it exploded off its hinges. I shoved Lathain hard, the door missing him by an inch.

From the door a monster troll emerged carrying a brief case, whilst there could have been any number of items in that case I had my gut feeling that it would contain the very thing we had just purchased, beside the troll three human guards also moved out into the room, armed with rifles, the dust of the explosion lighting up the beam of their laser pointers.

I picked up a vase from the table beside me and threw it in the face of the nearest guard on the run as I did so. In the corner of my vision one of the original guards was taking a swing at the troll and Lathain was in a grapple for one of the human's guns.

I slid to the floor, coming up by the legs of one of the armed men, kicking his legs from beneath him, he went down and I used the momentum to crack him head against the floor, he went limp, now unconscious. I pulled his rifle free of his hands and threw it to Whisperer who wasted no time in lighting up the room and pummelling the other human guards.

The bullets smacked into the huge troll, who simply dropped the guard he had been throttling and looked down, his shirt peppered with a metal glint told me he wore body armour, the bullets doing nothing.

Lathain attacked with a knife he had pulled from his dead guard, causing only flesh wounds, others around us were trying to escape, those trying to get in to help were pushed back by those trying to save their own lives. I pulled a knife from the body at my feet and moved to help Lathain, hitting the chest plate hard I dinted the armour but didn't pierce it, it was tough grade elephant armour, we would need more fire power than this, I dodged one huge arm, only to be hit bodily by the arm holding the briefcase.

The heavily enforced case hit my solar plexus, knocking the wind from me and lifting me bodily, I was thrown against the wall coughing. The scars on my arms lit up as pressure built in a huge spike, out of breath and unable to control it I pushed forward with my mind, hoping that the fall out would at least be directed away from the civilians pressing against the doorway.

Lightning snaked from my arm and my chest in a wave, hitting the troll and one of the remaining guards, unfortunately it also hit Lathain, a cry to my right told me Whisperer had also been bitten. The troll shook from the shock before dropping to the ground.

In a moment Wizbit was beside me, hauling me up and dragging me towards the blasted out doorway, Whisperer followed picking up Lathain as he went, the elf unconscious and sprawled over Whisperer's shoulder. Wizbit picked up the heavy suitcase as we went, shooting me a look of mixed anger and disbelief, with a ward I should never have been able to cast, let alone decimate a room.

"Head to the safe room, then turn left before the door" he ordered, turning to kick a table and cabinet over the blasted door entrance, it would give us only a few seconds, but we would need them.

Dizzy from the blast I stumbled quickly down the corridor, turning left as instructed to see a small window. Wizbit raised a hand, before realising a spell wouldn't work and so used the case to smash it open, a gnarled hand came through the other side and took me by the arm, I bit back a scream as the face of Bob appeared

"One thought Ghost might require one's assistance" he rasped, I'd never been happier to see a monster in my life, I jumped through the window onto the thin broken platform that remained of the fire escape. Wizbit thrust the case at me as Bob pulled me into his arms and jumped. I almost screamed on the way down, forgetting for a moment that Bob's ghoul powers would prevent him from hurting either him or me. KC waited at the bottom, firing shots at the windows and roof where others were trying to reach us.

Convoy met me at the bottom and guided me round the corner of the building as Bob went up to bring down Lathain, Wizbit simply jumped out of the window, as he reached the bottom he slowed, his magic now working outside the walls. A grapple hook was thrown for Whisperer who slid down the side of the wall. After that the team ran, dodging the guards which now burst from the club trying to catch us, but it was too late we were away.


	10. Chapter 10

"Damn it Ghost what did you think you were doing?!" Wizbit yelled at me, we had taken shelter in an abandoned building about a mile from the club, we were tired, I, Whisperer and Lathain were covered in dust and dirt from the blast and KC was applying stim patches to the still unconscious elf.

I pulled my gear from my pack, eager to get out of the dress and shoes.

"I don't know Wizbit" I shouted back, "you know as well as I do that I can't control this" I threw my arms up "it wasn't like it was planned!"

"You damn near destroyed the room Ghost, heck you could have killed Lathain!" he pointed to where KC was patching up Lathain, KC doing her best not to look like she was listening. "Look at him Ghost" he said "For god's sake, he's damn near fried, did it ever occur to you that the tech gear he carries is the stuff keeping him alive?" I went silent and still, Wizbit's anger continued "You're always the same Ghost" he yelled "You rush in, you never think do you?" he yelled "the place was _warded_ Ghost, how did you even pull that juice? I swear its one mystery after another with you"

"I _told_ you I had no control" I yelled "Believe me I was just as surprised as you to find this thing can build even in a warded zone, its not like I _asked_ for this Wizbit, so back off!"

"I will when you learn to not be such a danger to those around you, you could have gotten people killed. You need to keep this under control, you're too much of a loose cannon, you shouldn't even _be_ on this mission" Wizbit yelled, he paused realising what he had said.

I stormed from the room taking my things with me, my scars already glowing after the heated argument, betraying the pent up emotions I tried to shut down. Whisperer looked to follow but was called back by Wizbit.

 _Damn him_ I thought, he knows I didn't choose this curse, that control is difficult. He had no idea what it was like living with a magic bomb inside your chest, what it was like waking up in the middle of the night because the horror of your nightmares had set the pressure off, waking in pain at the burning sensation over the whole of your left side or that the scars you knew were not just skin deep but that your heart and left lung were also scarred. I found an empty room and after checking no one had followed me I changed quickly, glad to be out of the dress and simple shoes. I pulled the pins from my messy hair and spent a moment trying to fight back tears, calming myself by pulling my hair into a long rope braid.

My nerves a little more settled I vented off the electricity in small waves, trying to stop them from lighting up the dim room, it wouldn't do to give off our location when so many people would be out looking for us.

I dug into my pack to look for my knives, cursing as I cut my finger on one of the sharp edges; I put the bleeding digit to my mouth.

"You need a band aid?" I heard KC ask, she stood in the doorway "Before you ask the guys didn't send me, they're too busy arguing amongst themselves to notice you've been gone too long" _great_ , I thought, _just what I wanted to hear_

"So why are you here?" I asked, KC shrugged

"Geraldine and Hacker are arguing, Wizbit and Whisperer are shouting at each other. Even Adam seems to be getting in on the fighting, aside from Bob who's watching over Lathain everyone is shouting at everyone else, so I figured why not get some peace and quiet"

I stared at her a moment, thinking she maybe had an ulterior motive but she seemed sincere enough, KC it appeared was like that. Simple was the best way forward, remove all the complications, I wished for a moment I could have her sense of resolve and not let things get to me as they did.

"Do you have a wet stone?" I asked changing the subject

"Sure, but don't you think those knives of yours are sharp enough?" she asked me, looking pointedly at my cut finger.

"Something to do" I told her, she shrugged and dug a stone from her side pocket, rummaging around for a small water bottle that she threw my way too. We sat in the small room for about a half hour, me sharpening blades, KC checking her guns, I looked at a small bone handled pistol she was cleaning.

"Did you always have that?" I asked her, she smiled at me

"Nope, brand new this one, picked it off one of the club bouncers" I slid my eyes to one side trying to think back

"but we didn't get into any fights with the bouncers" I told her, she laughed at me

"Who said anything about fighting" she winked, I was so shocked I honestly had no response for it, I shuddered a little, feeling uncomfortable, but then it wasn't my life.

A shuffling sound indicated the arrival of Wizbit, looking sheepish, hands dug into his pockets, he looked at me, pausing a moment when he realised I wasn't alone, he ran a hand awkwardly through his hair

"I'm sorry I snapped at you" he said "I didn't mean to let my . . . discomfort at your abilities get the better of me" he looked up at me, his grey eyes telling me he'd had a big row with the rest of the team and lost over this issue, I could make him feel crappy about himself but I didn't see the point in drawing it out. I knew his feelings towards my condition, knew that it scared him, that he was still adjusting to it as much as I was.

"It's OK" I told him "did Lathain put you up to this?" I queried, Wizbit wasn't really the type to apologise

"Lathain's still out cold" he told me, I winced; the elf must have taken a really bad hit to still be out

"Well I'm done here" KC announced breaking the awkward silence and rolling up her guns, how she carried all that armoury I had no idea "What's the plan now?" she asked

"Well Lathain still needs to wake up, it'll be hard to move him otherwise, so I say we stay put, keep an eye open for guards and when he wakes we'll make a move then" Wizbit said "I got a decent look at the area, there's a way out on the roof if we need it and I've warded the main room so if anyone comes looking they'll think its empty" he said, he shuffled his feet a moment then not knowing what else to say walked back to the main room.


	11. Chapter 11

I packed my things then followed him, in the room most of the team were looking to bed down for the evening, Geraldine and Hacker taking up a makeshift camp bed next to each other, from enemies to friends it seemed. Bob was busy pouring over the device, I went to look. It was a slim weapon, smaller than I had imagined, about the size of a 45 and about the same shape, though where a standard magazine would normally be there sat a chamber filled with a blue energy, and the different hues of colour swirled and danced, reminding me of an old fashioned lava lamp. I tried to sense what kind of magic came from it, but oddly I felt nothing

"One believes this might cancel out magic" Bob hissed, his delicate claws looking through the pages of the manual. The archaic method of hand written notes was the only un-hackable methodology these days; clearly the maker didn't want just anyone to get to the secret on how this item worked. "This tells one how to make more of this contraption" he said looking pointedly at Wizbit "One would suggest that the information and the device be separated"

"that's a good suggestion" Wizbit conceded "We don't want anyone getting their hands on the device, but we especially don't want them to get their hands on how to make more" he trailed off, musing some thought in his head.

"There's a simpler way than that" I told him, he looked up at me with a questioning look "We just burn the manual" I told him "that way no one can make another"

"Hang on a second" Wizbit said "isn't that a bit rash? I mean we don't know how many copies there are of this manual, we don't even know what the device does yet"

"And you think we should?" I asked "IS it really something we want to be playing with?" I took the manual from the Ghoul "Wizbit this device, this weapon is designed for evil, no gun in the history of _ever_ has been made for anything other than killing or harming another, its not going to magically make people better, its designed to destroy, simple as that"

"But we don't know that" Wizbit stressed "we have no idea what the weapon does, Bob says it looks like it cancels magic, it might cure mages of their powers"

"You think a mage needs to be cured?" I interrupted "You're a mage Wizbit, it's who you are, it's what you are, it's not a curse" I held up my arm "I've got this and hell I don't want to lose my powers, crappy though they are" I dropped my arm and looked at him hard "Look, my mission was to stop you guys getting your hands on the weapon, my mission now is to stop _anyone_ getting their hands on the weapon, this or others that may be out there, I say we destroy it"

"She has a point" Lathain's voice drifted over the group, I turned to see him stood, leaning heavily against a pillar, looking like hell, he gave me a classic grin "S'up Ghost"

"Lathain are you alright?" I began, he held up a hand to silence me before I started spouting

"Shush with the mushy stuff Ghost, I'm fine, tired and unable to sleep because of the rabble, but fine" he stood up straight, wobbled slightly before thinking better of it and returned to leaning "mostly"

"Lathain, we should talk this through" Wizbit began

"There's nothing to think about" Lathain said "You and I both know that if a weapon that dispelled magic ever got out in this world it could cause another war, imagine a war where the losing side have no magic but the winning do?" he paused and scratched his head "That is of course it actually does that" he said

"If it cancels magic then it might help to open a rift" Whisperer supplied

Lathain nodded "I can't believe I'm saying this but seriously we need to destroy it, too many people will get hurt"

"What about destroying the device, hiding the manual?" Whisperer supplied "just in case someone else has another copy" Lathain shook his head

"No, that'll be no good either, we need to destroy it now" he held his hand out for the manual which I gave him, hesitating only a moment before letting go, Lathain dug in his pockets a moment before bringing out a lighter.

"Wait!" Wizbit said hands up "Shouldn't we find out what the device is made from or something first?" he edged towards Lathain "I mean it might tell us how to destroy the device"

"It probably does" Lathain said "However aside from Bob here and Ghost everyone here has got some form of com unit which could take pictures, or some sort of software which would mean that the contents are never actually erased" he looked at me "Ghost I know will never wear a comm., but she also has a hell of a memory to back up what she doesn't have in tech and Bob . . ." he turned to look at the Ghoul "Well Bob here wouldn't tell a soul, would he?"

"One is not in the business of discussing secrets" Bob drawled a reply

"So it's settled, before anyone else gets a peek at the covers we burn it" Lathain said, Whisperer looked at him uneasy a moment then nodded, Wizbit looked to move towards Lathain, KC stepped in front of him, not saying a word but the threat was evident, he dropped his shoulders and nodded

Lathain lit the manual and we watched it burn up to ashes.

"Right, who's for food?" he said grinning, I sighed

We decided to stay where we were for the time being, Wizbit had finally come around to the idea that destroying the weapon was the best course of action and spent some time with Bob discussing how best to destroy it. The handle showed a few runes which showed it was impervious to the magic around it, meaning we couldn't zap it out of action, but we were unwilling to simply break it by force, not knowing the repercussions of it, a point that Wizbit was keen to remind us of. Tired and defeated we opted for getting the device out of Chicago and looking at it then, we decided we would take turns keeping watch.

Shifts organised we turned in for the night, I curled the gun up inside my coat and used it as a makeshift pillow; the coat would keep any astral signature hidden.

"Whisperer will wake you when it's your shift" Wizbit told me, oh goodie, just what I needed, more alone time with Whisperer


	12. Chapter 12

Sure enough sometime later I felt a slight shake of my shoulder, I opened my eyes quickly, hand on my blade ready, those blue eyes looked down at me, almost glowing in the near darkness.

"Were you even asleep?" He whispered, I shook my head

"Just dozing" I told him, lowering my hand from his throat, he gave me an appreciative smile

"You're going to exhaust yourself if you carry on" he said "You've not slept since the day before yesterday"

"I'm fine" I said getting up, brushing the dust from the floor off my clothes "So anything?"

"Couple of voices, think they're going to run a sweep of the buildings around here, but haven't heard anything come nearby for a while" hmmm, wouldn't be good to be caught with the weapon on our persons

"Fine, I'll keep an extra ear open" I told him, I took a longer look at the room we were in, devoid of furniture; the walls were bare and crumbling in places, the floor boards would lift easily but would be the first place I would look for a hidden item, not to mention it'd take a while to get out of there if we were in a hurry. Whisperer moved to the corner of the room and sat down, back to the wall propped upright, he watched me look around the room, eyes finally settling on a small hole in the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of him

"A hiding space"

"I doubt even you could fit in there" he remarked, until he saw me pick up my coat, the weapon wrapped inside "Ah, I see" he looked up at the ceiling again "Need a boost?"

I didn't really want to be in close contact with him if I could help it, there was something I couldn't understand about him, something that was very appealing about, given my past experiences with men I had no normal emotional back ground to go on, was this attraction to him normal? It wasn't like what I felt for Lathain, an on and off, built over time steady feeling of confusion. This was a full blown, heat, _passion_ for lack of a better word, I still wasn't without my doubts though, I mean who would want me? Broken and in pieces, who would have the strength to cope with my demons? Lathain certainly not, he had his own to contend with, and most guys I had met were runners, each chasing the shadows because of some slight, some burden, they all had their problems that were great enough for them to choose this life. And a normal person would probably be unable to handle even the notion of what I had gone through, maybe this was why Torrin protected me with such force, why he kept me hidden from everyone, because one day I would come to the realisation that no one would want me, that no-one would be able to handle me as a woman, a child was one thing, Torrin had taken care of that, but as a woman I was . . .

I broke off my train of thought, Whisperer was staring at me, he seemed cautious, like an animal sensing a predator, crossing a fine wire. I stared back, he really was handsome, even as beaten up as he was . . . no especially beaten up, he seemed

"Ghost?" he asked cautiously "What's wrong?" I suddenly felt open and vulnerable to him then, those eyes that saw everything, he stood slowly, sensing something was wrong but not knowing what, he took a step forward, close, too close, the charge built in defence. I needed to let loose the charge, but where? The room was empty but for sleeping forms, the charge built quicker than I could contain, the heat in my arms spread like flash fire, lighting up beneath my jersey as though someone had flicked a switch. I had to move, move now, _but where?_

Suddenly the panic with Whisperer was nothing compared to the electricity that built, my arms started to heat higher, looking down I could see the scars on my arms and their bright glow of vibrant purple. Whisperer was beside me in a second, he'd moved so fast once my eye contact was broken

"What do you need?"

"Take the coat" I hissed I had to get the charge under control, if I let it go the force would blow the windows out, maybe even light up the sky and give our position away, Whisperer wasted no time taking it from me, hissing as a snake of electricity bit his finger tips. _Focus, focus damn it_. My legs buckled and I hit the floor hard, using the pain of the fall to limit my thoughts, using the pain to bring calm to my mind. I looked around the room but there were only sleeping comrades, friends even, _yes_ , for all their faults I had _friends_ , people I could count on, people I could trust, people who depended on me as much as I depended on them, that thought gave me strength, the pain subsided, the light died down to a dull glow and the charge relaxed, I would still need to vent the charge at the earliest opportunity, but I had control, at least for now. Whisperer moved to help me up.

"Don't touch me" I warned, but it came out more like a threat, the hands reluctantly withdrew.

"Ghost?" he began, stepping closer again

"I said don't touch me" I whispered rising to my feet and half walked, half stumbled from the room, I found the stairwell and sat there, arms tight around me the tears flowing unchecked. I was broken, too dangerous; I wasn't safe to be around. The charges came more frequently than ever, each time the need to vent grew quicker and the charge held longer too. Was I going to burn out, had I survived the initial blast only to be killed later? I needed to speak to Wodan back at the Kabal about it, it seemed to be attached to my emotions, fear, made it worse, battle made it worse, not just being a runner, but the fear of someone getting close.

I heard footsteps behind me, knowing it was Whisperer again, I knew it was pointless to try and run away from him, something about him made me want to stay, and that confused me. He sat beside me on the stairs, not quite touching me.

"You know I'm not afraid of you" he said

"You should be" I mumbled into my arms, my hair falling forward to hide me from view.

"No, I don't think anyone should be afraid of you" he said "Unless they're on your enemy list, but even then I think they'd rather face you than K.C or me, or Lathain" A hand hesitantly and tenderly moved the curtain of hair aside, my eyes met his blue ones, his glasses off I could see them in full now, electricity nipped at his fingers, but he didn't flinch away. "Don't hide away Ghost, nothing good ever comes from hiding who you are" and there it was again, that pull, that urge to just be close to him, that was what scared me about him, that after everything my step father had put me through that I would want to be that close to someone again, it was both a joyous feeling and a terrifying one.

Suddenly his attention shifted, eyes snapping up to look down the corridor of the building, he rose, lending me a hand up despite the small static shock that sent his arm hair to it's ends. "We've got to wake the party" he whispered "Company is coming"


	13. Chapter 13

We roused the team, Wizbit momentarily complaining that he had yet to get a full nights sleep. Lathain was more interested in who was looking for us, his mind obviously on the drake that had been looking for him earlier. Wizbit and Whisperer assured him that it seemed to be a local force, if there was supposed to be anything reassuring about that.

"I warded the room" Wizbit said "they shouldn't see anything, but to be safe we should try and stay out of sight" everyone in agreement we pushed ourselves against one of the walls of the room and held our breath. A shudder of footprints echoed up the stairwell, pausing only a moment on our level before moving upwards

"One will return momentarily" I heard the whisper of Bob in my ear making me shudder, and with that he simply disappeared, I didn't really know how to react, I had no idea what Ghoul's powers were but I was pretty sure invisibility wasn't one of them

"The guys are searching the rooms upstairs, and there are two more troops below us" Lathain said, hand to his comm. unit "We need to take out the guys above us so we can get to the roof"

"How do we do that?" Whisperer asked "the second we start a fight the guys downstairs will hear and come running . . . " he trailed off, Wizbit looked at him and nodded, moving into the middle of the floor, Whisperer's eyes glazed over white and he looked up "Cast down" he told Wizbit "Bob has upstairs covered"

Wizbit murmured a spell and a slight glow flashed across the flooring, he nodded to Whisperer and the two started to head to the stairwell, "I wouldn't wait too long if I were you" Wizbit said

We wasted no time in following, as we hit the stairs the sound of men screaming filled the air, blood curdling, they were screams of fear. I shuddered at the sound, which must be Bob; I didn't dare imagine the fate that those poor souls were having to go through. We raced for the roof, hitting it at a run, Wizbit took only a moment to locate the planks which stretched between this building and the next and headed over. Bob appeared behind me, his dark clothes splashed with blood, his fangs very much evident, I almost screamed aloud, he looked utterly terrifying.

"One has bought us time to cross" he hissed

"How come the guys downstairs aren't following?" KC asked as we got to the planks, Whisperer testing the plank with his weight and starting across

"Silence spell" Wizbit told her "they can't hear above the floor we were on, but they'll reach the next floor in the next few minutes so we better move before they cotton on" he all but shoved her onto one of the planks

"The device must have a tracking unit" Lathain said "Either a weak one, or one that we activated when we played around with it, they got to us pretty quickly"

"We need to shut the gun down then" Whisperer said jumping off the end of the plank to the other building

"I know!" Lathain yelled at him "Ghost any ideas?" I stood on the plank and started to shuffle across the roof

"I'm thinking" I said

"Think quicker" Lathain said

"What about a barrier?" Wizbit asked

"A Physical barrier to shield any comm. trace?" I asked, just edge a little closer "That could work" I said aloud "Can you cast a barrier?"

"No" Wizbit answered taking up his feet on the plank behind Bob

"Well why suggest it then?" Convoy snorted

"I can" Whisperer said, extending out a hand to help me over the last section, I ignored it, concentrating on my footing too much, he simply shrugged and helped the ghoul who took the offered hand

"We need a failsafe" Lathain said "A bomb to put in with it would be good, something I can set off with a comm. link if it's broken open"

"Can't guarantee it'll work, blowing the device up sounds good but ideally we'd like to keep it intact until we know how to destroy it safely" Wizbit said making the last leap, landing next to KC, Whisperer removed the plank cutting them off from following, we had a few moments to spare.

"What about an EMP?" I asked

"Would be perfect, except we don't have one" Lathain said trying to pull the plank across the roof so we could cut across to another building

"I do" I said "Turn your head"

"Turn? Whoah!" Every guy on the team suddenly went beetroot red and swung their heads away as I pulled off my top

"Here hold this a second" I handed a flushed Lathain my top whilst I began to detach a strap just under my bra.

"Hey Ghost you know I could help you with that" he began, I shot him a look and he turned away again, I removed the strap and snatched my top back, on my other side I could hear Whisperer

"So why am I not looking?"

"Because I'll shoot you if you do" Lathain warned him

"K sorted" I told them, a few relieved sighs, one or two of the guys wouldn't meet my eyes, _whatever_. "K I'd like a ball barrier just big enough to cover the gun and the EMP" I told Whisperer "Lathain, rig it so it goes off if the barrier is forcibly broken"

"Will do" he said

"Why do you even have this?" Whisperer asked

"Less talk more work" I told him, "KC can you keep an ear out on the guys tailing us, see if their mutterings about the trace come to an upheaval"

"You mean we won't be taking them down?" She sounded disappointed but kept her hand to her comm. link. The barrier sealed and the chatter went AWOL

"Looks like they can't sense it" Lathain said "Not a bad idea"

"Neither is getting out of here" Wizbit said "Come on" he picked up the ball of energy and stuffed it under my coat which he balled up in the rucksack "I'll follow you guys" he then disappeared from sight, damn invisibility being better than mine! Oh well

Lathain checked the chatter and decided it was best to cross to the next few buildings before heading down, the planks from our last trip were hauled to each opposite side and we shuffled across

"We should consider if the astral signature of the device is detectable by anything" Wizbit's voice carried over to us

"But it's shut up in a case now" Whisperer said

"Yes but if they have a mage with them then that mage will be able to trace all the signatures of everyone here" he said

"You mean like a sniffer dog?" KC asked

"Something like that yes" he said "We should head to water, that'll break the signature" we raced down the stairs of the desolate building and headed west towards where Lathain said there should be an old overflow for the nearby lake, the storm drain would be wide but there should be some flowing water.

"This is our time to split" Hacker grunted to Lathain as we reached the water's edge, shallow, around shin deep and slightly murky, but it was a flowing current.

"With any luck the guards will follow us instead" Geraldine said, Bob grinned showing his sharp teeth. Adam made clear that he wasn't sure where else to go so left with Geraldine and Hacker

"One will find you later" Bob hissed, they didn't wait for us to call them back, without waiting for a thank you they simply raced off in the other direction. We had no time to waste, the remaining people slid down the drain sides into the water, a dark purple cloud upstream chose our course for us, unwilling to be too close to a mage cloud we decided to go downstream. Wizbit cast a soft tracer spell leading away from the water; with luck they would follow that rather than us. About a hundred meters away there appeared to be a tunnel where the water flowed into it, deciding this would be better than wading across in the open we headed towards it


	14. Chapter 14

It was cold in the water, and with the rising sun only just on the horizon the shadow of the tunnel was even colder, I rubbed my arms to try and get a little warmer, trying to ignore the cold and wet of my boots, wishing that my coat was wrapped around me, rather than the gun. Wizbit was clearly uncomfortably, having had to drop his cover due to the current

"So Ghost, What was with the grenade?" asked Whisperer as he sidled up to me

"Long story" I said shaking with cold

"It's a long walk" he noted, he murmured a spell and his hand glowed for a few moments before the spell stuttered and died

"Running water?" I guess "that or you're out of juice" I pulled my last few glow sticks from my belt and snapped them awake, shaking them to bring up the glow, I threw one to KC and Lathain

"The water" Whisperer replied back "you never answered my question" I thought about lying but then figured he would only press further anyway

I sighed heavily, something told me he would keep asking "It's my back up" I said giving up

"For what?"

"The Matrix"

"Why would you need an EMP if you're in the matrix?" He sounded thoroughly confused

"Because I don't ever want to _be in_ the matrix, it's designed to go off if I'm ever put under" he slowed in the water mulling this over

"But the dump shock would kill you, let alone the grenade going off on your chest!" _ah so he figured it out at last_

"That's the idea yes" I said

I expected more questions, but he simply stopped walking in shock, as if he hadn't heard me correctly, Lathain gave him a look over his shoulder, I ignored then and kept on wading through the ice water. Behind me I could hear the two of them talking

"What happened?"

"She got messed up in the matrix, and she's making sure what happened wont ever happen again"

"She ever tell you what that was?"

"Nope but we were on a case about eight months back, we were separated and they drugged her and hooked her up direct to her spinal column, she found out she was plugged in and went Berserk, Her body had started going into arrest when Wizbit found her, and she was screaming the whole time like she was being tortured. Wizbit looked for controls but couldn't find any; Lambast thought to end it quickly and pulled the plug"

"But she's still here?!" Whisperer's voice was loud enough for a few heads to turn, Lathain waited until people had stopped paying attention before continuing.

"The dump shock should have killed her, frankly how she's alive after half the stunts she's pulled is beyond me, this one though really got her, she came to straight away, and she was wild"

"Wild?"  
"Wild" Lathain repeated, "you know how calm and focused she is all the time? How she has no trouble keeping her cool even under heavy fire"

"It's a strong trait of hers yes" Whisperer said

"She didn't have that this time, I've never seen anyone out of control as she was, like I said wild is the only way to describe it, she was so angry, she's normally merciful in battle, only killing if she absolutely has to, she'd rather incapacitate, heck even coerce them onto our side, but this . . ."

He trailed off

"What did she do?" I could hear the curiosity in Whisperer's voice, that dreaded curiosity where you have to know the answer but aren't sure you want to hear it.

"She blew the building apart" Lathain said, all humour gone from his voice lest Whisperer make the mistake of thinking he was joking "The whole complex blasted apart, she was nearly buried inside, she just walked down the hallway blowing things out left right and centre"

"She blew up the building?" Whisperer didn't sound convinced

"Believe it" Wizbit's said over them both "She wont go back into the matrix, that grenade strapped to her chest is connected to a heart monitor, if she has an attack like that again it'll blow, she doesn't care if she dies just so long as she's not in the matrix"

"So the scars on her neck are old jack points she had removed, and that's why she wont wear a comm.?"

"She has scars?" Lathain asked I could feel the weight of his stare on the back of my neck

"Yeah I noticed them when she was hanging upside down from the vent, plug in jacks that had been surgically removed, would have been fine work too had the scars not been opened at some point" Whisperer said, _damn he really didn't miss anything did he?_

"I guess so" was all Lathain could answer him with, there was a long pause "So about you and Ghost"

"What about Ghost?" Whisperer asked

"You seem to be very . . ." I tuned them out, I didn't want to know what they were talking about, but if I knew Lathain, and unfortunately I did then it would probably be X rated material. I caught sight of KC and strode over to see how she was doing instead.

"You heard what they're saying?" she asked me as I approached

"Nope, but I figured it was turning that way so thought I'd come talk to you instead" I said

"Not even a little interested?" she teased

"Nope"

"Well since they're having their guy talk shall we have girl talk?"

"Girl talk?" I don't think I'd ever had "girl talk" before

"Yeah girl talk, you know, gossip and stuff" she said, pausing a moment to haul a massive gun back onto her shoulder.

"I didn't peg you as the gossip type" I said, she laughed

"Yeah I'm not I just want to do something normal for a change, I've spent five years underground I figure I could be a bit of a girl for a change" seemed a fair request

"So what does girl talk entail?" I asked

"Sex, drugs and rock and roll" KC said with a wink, lets start with the first shall we? So you and the bartender"

"There's nothing going on" I interrupted

"Ah see now with girl talk it's not if there is something going on, it's asking the question would you?"

"Would I?"

"You know, would you with Whisperer?"

"Uh, no, no I wouldn't" I said flushing red

"Yeah you would, you just won't admit it to yourself" KC said, she swung a look over her shoulder to take in the crowd "Or is it the elf?"

"Lathain?" I asked "No, not really him either, well I don't know" I said feeling even more embarrassed

KC gave me a long hard look "Well I would the pair of them, but then as I said I've been underground for five years fighting the whole time so I'd pretty much do anything with a pulse and a great ass, all of the boys here happen to have those two criteria" she paused to light a cigarette, amazingly still dry despite the water, she waved the packet under my nose, I declined.

She gave me another calculating look "Are you a virgin?" she was only meant to tease with the comment, but didn't expect the withdrawal that she got, I clutched at my arms tight, hiding in my hair "Ah, that's a no then, some men are complete bastards" she flicked ash into the dark water "So old boyfriend too rough on you? Or some stranger?"

"My step father" I said barely a whisper, she stopped dead

"Oh shit, I'm sorry" she sounded genuine too "I mean it's one thing for a . . . shit . . . how do you move on from something like that?" she asked, the moment awkward

"You don't" I said, I looked at her then, for a moment I thought I saw the barest hint of a tear in her eyes. I heard Lathain's laughter over my shoulder and KC blinked away the look of apology, took a huge drag on her cigarette and offered the rest to me, this time I did not refuse it

"So anyway about that boy's ass" she said rather loudly, putting an arm round my shoulder, the tone very much loud enough for the guys to hear, as was her intention "I agree it is particularly fine, shame about the others though"

"What was that?" Lathain shouted to us

"Talk _about you_ not to you" KC replied, the look on Lathain's face was priceless, I smiled, finding my shoulder's had relaxed and I had stopped my withdrawal, but then that had been the point, seems KC wasn't so bad after all.

"How would you like it if we talked about you like that!" Lathain yelled

"You already do, but I know you find this very appealing, so you can kiss it if you want to" she slapped her backside for the extra effect. Whisperer raised an eyebrow in amusement, KC winked at me "Come on, show your game face" she said and stuck her tongue out at Lathain who tried to move after her, Whisperer's strong arms around his shoulders keeping him back, the attempt was half hearted, but very comical, water spraying up.

"Time to get out I think" KC said making her way to the bank, "I don't know about you but my legs are freezing" I nodded in agreement, I think we were far enough south to mask our astral signatures.


	15. Chapter 15

There were people waiting on the bank as we approached the bank steep and slippery, I say people, because that's what they were, not human, or any other form of meta human I had ever come across, _mutants_ I believe is the term. There was a large group gathered, wary eyes watched us. I slipped slightly, breathing hard, the bank was steep, the mud slick and slippy underfoot

"You couldn't lend a hand?" I asked to the waiting group "I'd appreciate it" One mutant came forward, a lengthy arm extended beneath his usual pair, the arm had two hands attached to the end of, if I ever needed to open a jar of maple syrup again I knew where to come, I took it without hesitation. KC shot me a look that told me she would reach the top on her own thank you very much. Whisperer climbed easily, tiny spikes in the sole of his shoes helped him climb the slick slope, he gave an arm to KC.

"Thank you" I said to my helper at the top" the stranger, a young man smiled faintly, even a little shyly, a man with a large facial disfigurement stepped forward and put a hand on the young mutant's shoulder and shook his head disapprovingly

"Olaf, you shouldn't help the outsiders" he said, the young man hung his head and moved back into the crowd

"I still appreciate the help" I called after him, the new stranger regarded me with a cold gaze

"Outsiders always bring trouble, you should leave" the barest hint of a warning, Lathain stepped forward; I put out a hand to silence him lest his trap get us into even more trouble.

"We're just passing through" I told him "Just point us south and we'll be out of your hair in no time" I promised

"You're not welcome here" _well duh_

"Hence the request to simply pass through" I said "We're not looking for a fight"

"OK everyone back in the water looks like we'll have to get wet again" Lathain badly wanted to interrupt, I could see it on his face, Whisperer put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, K.C did not look pleased

"We're just going to walk away?" she muttered

"We are" I confirmed "This is their home, we're too badly injured and tired for a fight that we can't possibly win to begin with and besides, aren't you tired of fighting all the time?" I asked her, she paused, eyes down, she breathed something I couldn't quite catch, I cast a look around the group steadily entering the water again, everyone accounted for. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, it was slick with sweat, it was getting hot, too hot, but I couldn't remove my top, my scars scared even normal humans who didn't even know what they meant, let alone awakened people, my gear was getting heavier by the minute, I should have rested more, gotten Lathain to take the last watch, maybe even gotten some actual sleep, but with a room full of strangers I just couldn't sleep, only doze. Add to that the last three days of constant motion and the fact I had slept so little in the corridor meant I was almost at my limit. I probably wasn't the only one either; Whisperer looked tired too, having been up most of my shift too. I sighed heavily again, straightened my shoulders and turned to the group of mutants

"Our navigations are shot in this place, could you tell me if we're heading the right way to go south?" the leader just stared at me, however the young mutant who had helped me up the bank nodded then pointed in the direction we had been heading. At least we were going in the right direction. "Thank you for your time" I said with a slight bow, I turned to go, and the leader put a hand on my shoulder to stop me

"Wait" he said, he looked about as if trying to weigh up a decision "We will let you pass, _this time_ " he said "But you should leave here as quickly as you are able, it is no place for you" he nodded in the direction we were heading "When you get to the south if you need shelter or food speak to Nostromo, he is trying to grow in the south, a waste of time but he will help you" then he let go

"I appreciate it" I said. I helped KC back up the bank, Lathain, Wizbit and Whisperer wasted no time in following, Convoy struggled up the slope, looking tired, I briefly wondered how his wounds were healing.

"Only you can diffuse a situation like that" Lathain remarked "left up to me we'd probably have been knee deep in blood, and it would most likely be ours" wow Lathain sounded like a real runner for a change, a smart guy knew when he was beat "Of course I would alright" he threw me a smile, I couldn't help but laugh, he hadn't changed at all, that though lightened my mood a little and in response the weight on my shoulders lightened too. Amazing what that elf could do with a smile.


	16. Chapter 16

Dry land was easier going than the water, but it still took a while to get close enough to the city edge to see the corridor.

"So how are we getting out?" KC asked breaking our silence, we turned to her "you know, we had papers to get in but they're going to be useless and we can't walk out with the weapon in toe" she said. She looked to Whisperer "how did you get in anyway?" she asked

"Drains mostly" Whisperer said "and greasing a few palms"

"I just got a comm." Convoy said with a grin "My truck is ready out of decontamination"

"Very helpful" Lathain said "it's out there and we're in here" he reminded everyone

"That's not a problem" Convoy said "It's a remote drive unit too, I just need a decent signal to get it to us" he seemed to have perked up immensely "I'll need to know where we are to sent in rendezvous coordinates"

"There's a comm. tower just ahead" Lathain said

"How can you tell?" Whisperer asked "It's not on the map" he stared at his palm pad a moment

Lathain grinned "trust me, I can hear the chatter passing through it" he said. Whisperer frowned and typed away at his wrist comm. trying to pick up the signal. "You're wasting your time" Lathain said "you need better gear than that to break the diamond code" he said

"Diamond code?" Whisperer said

"Yeah, some gang called the Affiliate Fifty Two own the tower" Lathain said with a shrug

Whisperer stopped dead in his tracks "How do you know about the A52?" he said, his voice laced with suspicion, Lathain cocked his head to one side confused

"How?" he asked "Their signal is all over the tower" he said. He pulled a palm pad from his coat and brought up a local area map, a tall tower building was outlined in red. "see this tower?" he said "there's chatter going through it all the time, mostly about someone called The Joker being in town, most of the comm. signals going through have the word diamond in the coding"

"How long have you known about this?" Whisperer asked

"About twenty minutes" Lathain said "Why? Do you know who they are?" he asked

"Do you?" Whisperer asked suspiciously, his eyes were narrow and focused on Lathain

"Never heard of them until now" Lathain said, he looked warily at Whisperer "Why?"

Whisperer said nothing at first, I became acutely aware that the whole group were now stopped dead and staring at both of them "The A52 are the people that had me held in the base" he said

"What?" KC asked suddenly interested in the conversation "you knew who were keeping us there and you didn't say?" she sounded pissed

"It's taken a while to find this out" Whisperer said "I overheard a conversation between a man who identified himself as the four of diamonds and the Joker back in my bar, the next thing I know I'm being drugged and hauled into the base" he spat

"What do you know?" Convoy asked, the curiosity in him was matched by everyone else

"The A52 are the group that have been buying up the base and expanding it" he said "all of their generals carry a card to identify them"

"You mean a playing card?" I asked, remembering the one in my pocket, I pulled it out. Whisperer's eyes went wide

"You have one?" he asked, the voice laced in accusation. KC took a step away from me

"I found it in the corridor" I told him. Convoy tugged at Lathain's sleeve

"We should move" he said pointing to the sky. I glanced upwards and saw the purple haze of an oncoming mage cloud "let's take this inside somewhere" he suggested.

"I'm not going anywhere until someone explains to me what's going on" KC said, arms folded, Wizbit shook his head

"We can't stay where there are clouds coming" he said his eyes focused on something over KC's shoulder "we have company" he said we turned to see a man dressed in a long cowl, his face was covered but he stood waving us over, one arm beckoning, the other pointing upwards. The figure dropped his hood to show a half orc half troll, his face twisted and mutated into something that looked utterly terrible. He beckoned more insistently, pointing above and stepping back towards a doorway. I glanced about, most of the other buildings were open, or damaged

"We should go" I said, Convoy was quick to start following me, I tugged KC's arm to bring her along, she resisted at first then followed.

"What if he's a bad guy?" Convoy asked, his eyes flicked betweenthe hooded figure and Whisperer.

"We don't have a lot of choice" Wizbit said "We'll get inside then talk this out"

"Damn right we will" Lathain said, his eyes not leaving Whisperer.

The metahuman mutant hurried us inside a dark and broken sided building, lit by flickering fluorescent bulbs he led us through an old office, the walls crammed with books too dusty and damaged to be readable. He led us down a flight of stairs, carefully closing the door behind us.

"It is safe here" he grunted, he led us past a second door into a large room lit with candles. The floor was clean and there were a handful of chairs to sit on, a small table sat to one side beneath the only electric light, on it sat two plants, the first greenery we had seen since entering Chicago. In another corner sat a large hollowed bench filled with compost, tiny seedlings sprouted from the surface.

"You must be Nostromo" Wizbit said taking the Orc's hand and giving it a shake "thank you for helping" he said, Nostromo shrugged and gestured to the room.

"Sit, talk, the room is yours" he wandered off to a dark corner and left us be, I was dying to ask him questions, but we had others that needed answers more urgently.

"I'm waiting" KC said after a moment hesitation, Whisperer sighed and scratched the back of his head, he took a seat and waited for everyone else to do the same, Convoy spent a moment sending a comm. to his truck so it would meet us nearby.

"I'll tell you as much as I know" Whisperer promised "but you have to do the same" he said.

Lathain made no such promises but stayed silent until Whisperer cleared his throat to start his story


	17. Chapter 17

"I used to be a barman" he began "I'd trade in information, pass on message to clients who couldn't be seen talking to each other, I'd listen to and hold on to information, sometimes for months at a time between the people who needed their messages sending. When the recipient entered I'd give them a drink and tell them what they needed to know" he said. Everyone in the circle was quiet, waiting in anticipation

"About eight months ago a guy came into the bar, said he was looking for someone called the Storm and that he needed me to ask around and find out what I can about him" I glanced quickly at Lathain, the elf hadn't moved, his face a mask. "I told the guy I didn't do that, I just passed on messages, I didn't delve into other peoples lives. He tried to convince me, even use mind magic to try and manipulate me but eventually gave up, he handed me a card and then left"

"A card?" Wizbit asked

"A Joker card to be exact" Whisperer said "I thought he was crazy so just threw it in the bin and left it at that" he said "then strangers started coming in to my bar, scaring off the locals, they all had one thing in common, a card number. A badge, pin, a wallet, a comm. decal, they each had a playing card motif on them of some description. I knew something bad was going on so I started to make enquiries about who they were"

"So these are the A52's?" KC asked

"Yes" Whisperer replied "I overheard one lot talking about this Storm character again, that peaked my interest, unfortunately I blew my cover, one of the affiliate members was a seer, and a strong one, they got inside my head and found out I was listening in. next thing I know I'm out cold and waking up underground" he said

"So who are the Affiliate?" Wizbit asked, Whisperer shook his head

"All I've been able to gather is that they're made up of four units, each a suit from a deck of card. The diamonds are their communications experts, clubs are the magic specialists, spades the weapons experts" he said

"What about hearts" KC asked

"No idea" he said "I hadn't come across them until I got to Chicago, I still don't know what they stand for" he sighed "I just know that napper worked for them and that they're generally mercs for hire, but they all report in to the Joker"

"What did this Joker person look like?" Convoy asked

"That's the weird thing" Whisperer said "as try as I might I can't picture his face clearly, I'm usually excellent with faces but this guy is so . . . nondescript that I wouldn't be able to tell you who he was if I ever saw him again" he sounded exasperated, looking around I could tell that most of the team didn't know what to think. Lathain however looked worried, the corner of his mouth turned to a frown, did he know something he wasn't tell the rest of us. It did seem pretty weird though that Whisperer wouldn't know what this guy looked like . . .

" _Bugger_ " I whispered to myself, all eyes turned to me, and I suddenly thought why someone wouldn't remember him.

"What?" Lathain asked

"The drake" I said looking to KC "KC can you describe him?"

"Sure, big, scaley, huge wings" she said

"Not the dragon, the man behind it" I said, KC snorted as if I were joking before she suddenly paused, her sneer turning into a frown, confusion, she looked as though she were thinking really, really hard, trying to remember something just out of reach "What colour was his hair?" I asked "Dark or blonde?" a simple enough question but she twisted her mouth, unsure

"I don't know" she said "why don't I know?" she sounded confused.

"Because they're the same man" I guessed "He was looking for the Storm too" I said giving KC a look that said she should keep her mouth shut, she frowned in confusion and ignored it.

"I thought he was looking for Lathain?" she said "That much is clear" damn. Lathain turned to the group and shrugged

"It's in the open now" he said "I am the Storm" he said "I actually go by many names but the Storm is the name the Mega Corps gave me" Lathain said, looking about the group. Whisperer raised an eyebrow at that, a quick look around the room told him that both me and Wizbit already knew who he was. Convoy looked at Lathain in awe

"If you're the Storm then you're the one that broke the Pharmatech facility" he said "And you're the one that took out Deef"

"Deef?" Whisperer said "Deef as in the trafficker?" he asked, his voice unable to hide a hint of disbelief

"The very same" Wizbit said "We've run into him a few times" he looked at Whisperer "What do you know about Deef?" he asked

"I know he is, or rather was, the king of spades for the A52's" he said "High calibre man, survived dozens of assassination attempts" Whisperer replied "most of the people who came through my bar had it in for him"

"Well he shouldn't be a problem for you going forward" Lathain said

"I don't get it" KC whined "I am so out of touch with all of this" she pointed at Whisperer "Are you a good guy or not?" she pointed at Lathain "Are you going to get me killed?" she asked "these are the questions I need answering" she said crossing her arms

I put a soft hand on KC's arm "Lathain won't get you killed on purpose" I said, immediately regretting it as KC gave me a wide eyed look. It had sounded fine to my ears, but out loud made Lathain sound like a weirdo. _He is a weirdo_ , my brain reminded me.

"Look" said Whisperer "I am looking for answers same as you, I'm looking to find this Joker and get him to talk, I want to know why I ended up in that base, why I was targeted, just like I imagine you do" he said looking pointedly at KC "All I know is that the A52's are behind this all, and if I have to hunt out every member of their faction to get those answers then so be it" he said

"Don't these A52 members know where to find this Joker?" Wizbit asked

Whisperer shook his head "The guy I tagged in the corridor had no idea, all he coulld tell me was that no-one ever saw his face, they got their orders via comm. link or some other messenger."

"Or maybe they saw him but can't remember what he looks like" I added

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" KC asked

"I didn't know you" Whisperer replied "I had no idea whose side you were on" he explained. KC tightened her arms further over her chest clearly put out. "What about you?" Whisperer asked nodding to Lathain "Do you know why they're looking for you?"

"I've made a lot of trouble for them in the past" Lathain surmised "They must know I'm in town though" he said

"How do you know that?" Convoy asked

"I have a feeling" he said giving me a quick glance, at first I thought about the bus and guiding the drake to Chicago but then I remembered the auction and what Lathain had said, the hint about his past. "When it's safe to get out of here I suggest we split up" he said "If they're really looking for me then I'll need to stay as fr from you as possible" he said

"What about the weapon?" Convoy asked "what are we going to do with it?"

Lathain shrugged "We were told to retrieve it, Ghost here is meant to keep us from it and I have no doubt that the Joker and A52's want it as well, we're better off destroying it" he said. Lathain rummaged in the back pack and pulled out the coat, unwrapped it to show the mage ball that surrounded it, he tapped his palm pad and gently held the ball, the barrier disappeared. Whisperer managed to contain his surprise better than I did. Lathain shouldn't be able to dispel magic that wasn't his. I briefly remembered another time, back in the Amazon where he had dropped my invisibility spell at will. Whisperer kept his mouth shut and watched as Lathain handled the gun. The chamber of blue light glowed softly on his face.

"I'm going to shoot it" he said

"What?!" Wizbit said rising from his chair "We've no idea what it does" he said

"One way to find out" Lathain said rising from the chair and looking for a suitable spot "Besides, if we can shoot it empty then it'll be useless" he had a point "Which setting to use though?" he said musing aloud

"Setting?" I asked

"Sorry" said Wizbit "I forgot you were out of the room when we looked at this before" he said, Lathain handed me the gun to study it.

The gun was lighter than I had imagined it would be. it seemed to be made of one solid piece of metal and though carved out of a single sheet of steel, the only joints were the cartridge, a slide, which I presumed was the safety and the trigger. I took a closer loo at the slide, it seemed to have three stops, currently held in the middle position. The only markings on it were two circles surrounded by arrows, on the left of the center the circle was small with two arrows pointing inwards towards the center, on the right the circle was larger, arrows pointing outwards.

"Open and close?" I asked handing the device back.

Lathain shrugged and took the weapon. he slid the catch to the left and pointed to one of the walls

"One way to find out" he said, and pulled the trigger.


	18. Chapter 18

A small blue light shot from the weapon and hit the wall. Rather than leaving a hole as a normal gun would have done the light faded and spread over the wall, tracing out roughly a meter wide circle. We waited patiently to see what else would happen . . .

"Errr . . ." Lathain said looking around the room at the expectant faces "I think it's broken"

I lanced around expecting our host to start ranting about firing weapons in his home. I couldn't see him anywhere, he must have snuck around to some other room. Wizbit stood and placed his hand on the wall that Lathain had shot

"I don't sense anything weird" he said "I can't feel any magic, and the wall seems to be just fine" he muttered, Wizbit turned to look at Lathain "try the other setting" he said, Lathain shrugged and Wizbit moved aside as Lathain raised the barrel for a second time.

"Take two" he murmured. The gun once again let out a round of blue light towards the wall, it hit and spread as it had done so before, only this time something started to happen.

It was hard to see at first, the wall looked normal for a few moments before a soft ipple could be seen on it's surface. KC stood and shouldered her rifle at the wall

"Something's not right" she whispered. She looked to Whisperer for confirmation, but he, like the rest of us simply stared at the wall as the ripple grew. It stayed within it's confines of the circle of blue that had gone before it. I hadn't realised at that moment, but we were all standing, all upon our feet , Convoy had taken a small pistol from the small of his back, Whisperer had his lugar's trained on the ripple, even Wizbit, who normally forwent physical weapons had KC's Desert Eagle aimed steadily at the growing ripples.

"Maybe I need to hit it again" Lathain whispered as he lowered the device in favour of his own gun. The room was silent, no sound other than my wildly beating heart as the ripples grew. The wall that had been struck barely visible between the undulating waves.

"Lathain" KC Whispered, her voice laced with panic "Lathain, my gun" all eyes turned to KC, the barrel of her rifle shook hard in her grip, her forehead broke out in sweat as the barrel slowly but surely started to turn away from the ripples and towards Lathain. "I . . . can't . . . stop . . ." she hissed.

Suddeny chaos reined. Wizbit darted forward to push Lathain from KC's aim. Whisperer shouted and all eyes focused for a second on the ripples that suddenly burst open, a flash of green pulsed out of the opening before something emerged from the tear in reality we stood before.

It was huge. It's great insectoid head armed with jaws big enough to cut a man in two. Its forelimbs were long and grasping, my mind put in in the frame of a mantis. It's chitenous body crawled from the opening, squeezing it's huge size from the tear in the wall.

Whisperer opened fire, and Convoy was quick to follow, a grasping arm swung out at KC who was even now struggling to hold onto her weapon. I jumped and dragged KC down to the ground, out of the swing of the monster. It's jaws opened wide and it screamed. The sound terrifying it shook the walls, piercing the inside of my head. I covered my ears in pain.

The jolt to the ground had free'd KC from whatever hold she had been under. She rolled to the side of the creature and let loose on her trigger. The creature's hide shook and sparked, but the bullets did nothing to it's hide. Now within our realm it dominated the room, and behind it I could see a second creature forcing it's way through the gap.

"Gost! Whisperer!" Wizbit's voice shouted above the screaming "Hit it with every magic spell you've got!" he yelled "Bullets won't stop it!" he blast mana bolts from his hands, swerving to avoid the huge limbs that sweeped across the room. Whisperer blasted fire and mana bolts too, pulling Convoy away from the creature as best he could.

I snapped my fingers towards the opening, _let Wizbit and Whisperer take care of the one in the room_ , I thought and I would try and stop any more from getting in.

KC realising her guns were useless out of desperation pulled her sword. The blade struck the creatures legs severing them from it's body. The creature screamed wildly again and lashed out, catching her in a glancing blow that sent her flying across the room. Lathain rushed over to see fi she was alright and took up her sword, using it to keep the insect's limbs from doing further damage.

Try as I might the creature within the opening still forced it's way through, the charge of my lightning so hot the air began to stifle, the air in my lungs starting to heat. The great eyes of the insect suddenly snapped to look directly at me and I felt and heard something within my mind snap.

My spell went wild into the room as I lost control of my thoughts, I had no idea on the damage I had caused as I was then flung from my feet. Whisperer had shoved me from the path of a huge claw, but I couldn't see him! I couldn't see anybody. Something was inside my head.

I could see in my mind hordes of insects, bee's and mantids, great wasp and ant like killers that ly beyond the whole in the wall. I could see in my mind that they were waiting, saw the face of someone I had seen before but had no idea where from, and a tower that pulsed out magic. They were waiting.

I screamed, my mind in pain and my body on fire as the charge within me built. Something was trying to get inside my head. Doors opened that I had kept locked, I saw my step father, his silhouette in the doorway of my room. The flash of police lights at the gate as they told me my parents had been shot. The spray of blood as Hanson's face had exploded outwards from the bullet that had pierced it. Then the sound, the sound of that damn mechanical eye.

I screamed again, the charge hot, and my skin felt like it was being ripped apart. I opened my eyes, interspersed with the flashes of the bug army and my nightmarish past I saw the head of the first insect cut down by Lathain's swing. Wizbit's mana bolts holding the second at bay, not yet within our reality.

"Let it go Ghost!" Whisperer's voice shouted at me "Wizbit!, get ready" he yelled across the room. As one the team dived for cover. The bug struggled to escape the wall, jaws snapping. "Let it go Ghost!" Whisperer yelled again.

The pain in my body was so intense I had no choice but to do as he said. The lightning blasted from me in a wave, lighting up the room in blinding white light that pushed past my closed eyelids. The insect at the wall screamed and was set alight by the blast. Then abruptly the scream died. The half emerged insect fell from the wall dead. The brickwork now solid once my side I became aware of a cracking sound, and the mana barrier that Whisperer had put up to protect everyone from my fall out cracked and fell away.

All eyes turned to Convoy who knelt with his arm outstretched, grasping the device. He was shaking but managed a weary smile.

"I think" he panted "I found out what the other button does"


	19. Chapter 19

A soft groan could be heard from the far corner and KC sleepily raised her head

"Awww I'm gonna feel that in the morning" she grumbled, patting her head to check for bleeding. "I think someone hit me" she moaned

"Try _something_ " Convoy said "What the fuck was that exactly?" he asked the question that was on all our minds

"Are you alright?" Whisperer asked softly, helping me to my feet. I could feel the remains of my electric charge nipping at his skin and causing the hair on his arms to stand on end; he ignored it and helped me up

"Peachy" I replied, my stomach lurching and the floor seemed very unsteady.

Wizbit went to see to KC and Lathain gingerly plucked the gun from Convoy's fingers

"That ladies" Lathain began "was a fucking mess" he stated

"It was the brotherhood" Wizbit clarified. My mind had already filled that in, but it felt strange none the less hearing it said out loud

"It looks like our little gun can open and close rifts between our reality and theirs" Lathain mused. Still supporting me Whisperer offered a silver hip flask, I shook my head and pushed it away

"Drink" he said "it'll calm your nerves" I looked down at my shaking hands, the skins slightly blistered from the strength of the spell, I gaze around the room at the scorch damage to the walls and the furniture, he must have guessed my questions

"Mana barrier to deflect the spell" he said "focused the energy toward the bug" he nodded to where the charred remains of the two creatures lay. _One and a half_ , I corrected myself then shuddered taking the flask from Whisperer. The liquid hit my burnt throat and I coughed

"It's water" I gasped, he grinned at me

"Of course" he said "You don't think I'd give you something to get drunk from at a time like this do you?" he asked with a mischievous smile. I was aware he was still holding me around the waist, testing my feet and happy I could stand on my own I pushed him away gently. Remembering the incident in the last hideout he backed off without further insistence.

"Lathain" I croaked, coughed and took another drink of water before clearing my throat "I think I know what they're planning" I said

"You and me both" KC muttered as Wizbit's healing spell sewed her head back together "I could see inside their heads whilst they were looking into mine" she said, she looked at me, her face pale "Did you see them" I knew exactly what she meant

"They've got an army" I told Lathain"they're waiting for the rift to re-open so they can come through" I gingerly walked to one of the chairs and tried to pick it up to right it. The wood burnt and fell apart to ash in my hands, _sod to that then_ , I thought bitterly and settled on the floor instead.

"They've been planning this for a long time" KC continued "They've been manipulating things on our side to get the rift to open back up"

Wizbit frowned, sweat beading his forehead from the effort of healing "you mean they're behind all of this?" he asked

"It would seem so" Lathain said "We know that the weapon is meant to open and close a rift, we are pretty sure the circle was supposed to destroy the magical barrier surrounding Chicago" he continued. "What I don't know is why anyone would let those evil suckers in here?" he said

"Maybe they were being controlled?" KC asked aware she had narrowly avoided shooting most of us.

"Maybe" Whisperer said as I handed him back his flask "or maybe the weapon is a fail safe, a certain type of leverage against the brotherhood" he took a drink from the flask and offered it to Lathain. The elf took it and pondered the information we had.

"So the base was supposed to drain the barrier around Chicago of it's power" he said ticking off the comment on his finger "the blood was used to increase the juice the circle needed. The blood of all the metahumans probably has something to do with weakening the barrier, or something to do with wiping out the metahuman race, of which we are not certain"

"If the brotherhood are involved then it might be to do with tracking" Wizbit mumbled

"Tracking?" Convoy and I asked as one

"When the brotherhood first broke the rift barrier they did it using the blood of several mages, as a result the first people they attacked were the mages that opened the rift, a lot of scholars believe the blood was a homing beacon to them to find the people they needed to kill first" Wizbit explained.

"because the mages that let them in were the ones who could shut them out" Convoy guessed

"Something like that" Wizbit said, he eased KC from the floor gently

"So if the people on the base wanted to open the barrier why did they need the weapon?" Lathain asked

"Maybe insurance" Whisperer said "with the barrier down the bugs could escape Chicago, you don't need the weapon to open the rift there are other ways to do that, but if you had a way of closing the rift at will then you could limit the flow of the brotherhood in and out of the city"

Lathain paled "So you think the A52's are working _with_ the Brotherhood" he said

"It's the only thing that makes sense" said Whisperer. "The Joker must be behind it all, only now with the barrier still up and no way to get enough juice to knock the barrier down the bugs will be stuck in Chicago, the plan is over"

"I don't get it" KC said "If the Joker is behind the barrier and the weapon then why try and sell it?" she said "What was the point of the auction?"

"Bad plot twist?" Convoy joked, Wizbit shot him a glare

"Or maybe the Joker is trying to sell the power" I said "Maybe he planned it but doesn't want to be the one it all gets pinned on?"

"Or maybe the power isn't to control the brotherhood" Whisperer said "maybe it's to stop them" he turned to Wizbit "you remember what happened to the General that stopped the first attack?"

"He was heralded a hero" Wizbit said

"Not just a hero" Whisperer said "his house was elevated to the tallest standing in the world, the house rose over and above the dragons themselves. The house had power over armies, countries and governments"

"And you think someone is trying to re-create the invasion in order to have a slice of the pie?" KC asked "Who would be that stupid?"

"I think I know" Lathain said in a low voice. He turned to me "You said you knew what they were planning next?" he asked

"I think so" I told him "I saw a tower, it looked like that was where they were going to break through"

"It's the Tower we saw earlier" KC confirmed "I saw it too,only I don't think its something that's going to happen I think it already is" she said, her voice hollow

"What?" Convoy and Wizbit voiced the room

"The brotherhood are already here" KC said "I saw it"

The room went quite whilst we contemplated our next move, in the silence we heard the sound of a body hitting the floor.


	20. Chapter 20

"Convoy?" Wizbit asked running over to the now unconscious man, he checked Convoy's pulse and lifted an eye lid up, I held back KC and Whisperer to give him the space he needed to work "He's alive" Wizbit confirmed "but I can't see why he's down" he said "He's not injured per say, at least no more than the rest of us"

KC handed Wizbit the med kit from earlier and Lathain helped to turn Convoy over so Wizbit could get a better look. "Wizbit" KC said, she pointed to Convoy's hands, which aside from being dirty and splashed with bug blood were glowing with a slight blue hue. It didn't appear over the whole hand, more the palms and across some of the fingers.

"What on earth?" Wizbit murmured "Whisperer do you know any life magic?" he asked, Whisperer frowned

"none that I've used for a long time" he said "I can't heal if that's what you're thinking"

"No I'm wondering about sensing his energy level" Wizbit said turning Convoy's hand over in his "I can do it when I'm strong enough"

"Why don't I try" I volunteered, Wizbit shook his head "Since your accident your charge creates problems, that's why healing you saps so much of my juice" he said "I have to push past your energy levels in order to start healing you". He nodded to Whisperer to take a seat beside Convoy "I'll have to talk you through it" he said

"Can't Ghost give you an energy boost?" KC asked "she seems to have enough energy to blow us up half the time" I wasn't sure if that was a stab at me or a compliment

"I can channel the energy" Whisperer said "it might be better than me trying to help you this way" he seemed nervous about trying to heal Convoy "I might not know what I'm assessing exactly" he admitted

"If she electrocutes me you're all fucked" Wizbit warned "but we'll try it"

Now I was nervous, I had barely any control over my powers half the time as it was, now I had to really try and not fuck this up. I placed a hand in Whisperer's palm, who would act as the conduit, the skin was warm, his finger tips slightly calloused and rough, I pushed the heated thoughts from my head and tried to concentrate on the charge within me.

"This might jump out in a burst" I warned "I'll try and control it as much as I can" Whisperer nodded and muttered a spell under his breath, his hand on Wizbit's shoulder, thinking better of his choice a moment he shifted his hand from the left shoulder over to the right.

"Put you other hand on the floor" Whisperer instructed, that way if this blows up the electricity will head to the floor and not across your heart" as he spoke my heart began thumping wildly, I didn't want to shock Wizbit, or Whisperer for that matter. In my nervousness my scars began to glow.

"Steady Ghost" Lathain said "You got this" he gave me a wicked grin and my heart slowed, I felt for the energy within me and started to push it outwards, steady at first to be sure Whisperer could handle it, he gave me a nod that I should push harder and I did, feeling the energy move from me to Whisperer. Blue static crept over Whisperer's body and down his arm to Wizbit.

"Damn girl" Wizbit hissed "That's a lot of juice" panicked I let go of Whisperer who received a mild static shock, but otherwise was fine. Wizbit shrugged his shoulders and stood and paced the room for a moment. He looked as though he were gearing up for a race. "how much did you give me?" he asked

"Umm . . ." I stuttered "I didn't want to shock you so if it's not enough . . ."

"You mean there's more?" he asked in disbelief, then continued his pacing, Whisperer on the other hand looked a little pale

"Is that alright?" I asked them both, Wizbit nodded

"I could get used to a boost like that on the job" he said

"You live with that?" Whisperer asked sitting down and flexing his hands, I nodded "and you're not dead how?" I shrugged, I had no answer for him

Wizbit spent a few minutes tending to Convoy, by the time the huge chocolate eyes opened we were all staring down at him.

"Was I out or something?" he asked, Wizbit helped him up

"You could say that" KC said "You fainted" she explained

"Fainted?"

"Drained more like" Wizbit said he looked to Convoy's hands again, the dark palms were no longer glowing blue but they had left behind a stain "the gun sapped some of your life essence" he said

"Why?" Convoy asked, we were all ears now

"best guess is that it needs energy from a living person to close the rift" Wizbit said, KC looked at Lathain then back to Wizbit

"but if it takes some life essence then why didn't it do it to Lathain?" she asked, she had a point

Whisperer scratched his head "Maybe because the rift wasn't open?"

"Or maybe my upgrades protect me from it" Lathain said, he stared at the gun "I don't feel any different, maybe it's my elf genes, you're all human so maybe it pulls on your life force but not mine" he said

"T15?" I asked

"What's T15?" Whisperer and Lathain asked together, Convoy shrugged

"It's the specific gene that the base were looking into" I explained "It's found in all metahuman types but not in humans" I pointed to the gun "maybe you need to have a T15 genome to use it?"

"Well I guess I know where I'm heading next" Lathain said sliding the gun into a holster

"You mean ' _we_ '" I said

"No, I meant me" Lathain said coolly "You need to stay here"

"What?!" Wizbit and I protested, Lathain dug a finger in his ear and winced

"Why is everyone talking in stereo today" he grumbled "Look, you're all beat, one person getting into that tower is easier than five and I can't protect all of you" he tapped on his palm pad a moment

"You can't be serious" Whisperer said "The Joker drake thing is out there after _you_ , and if he's behind all of this then you might just be leading the gun straight back to him"

I stood beside Whisperer to show solidarity "He's right Lathain" I said "This drake is a mean piece of shit, you'll need us to help you out, we're better off as one" behind me KC cocked her riffle

"Lead the way big shot" she grinned

Lathain looked hard at me "you could all get killed" he said "If I don't manage to pull this off then I need a back-up who can finish this for me, and you said it yourself only a meta human can pull the trigger"

"Bull shit" Wizbit said "we don't know that, it's only a guess"

"Well we can't hang around too much longer" Lathain said "We only have a matter of time until the brotherhood are in the city in big enough numbers to swap the defenses and I can get there a hell of a lot faster on my own" he moved to step outside, Whisperer moved subtly to stand in his way "That's not a good idea bus boy" he warned

"Lathain please" I said softly "we're a team" I placed a hand on his arm and looked at him "rest, Convoy's truck is on the way, we can go together and finish this" I told him. "we have no idea if that thing will sap the life out of you when you pull the trigger, just because it didn't in the beginning doesn't mean it won't do so next time. The rift you close will likely be bigger than this one"

"This isn't something you should do on your own" Wizbit said calmly "this isn't like Tibet" he reminded him "There are more of us, and we can help, it's our mission, not yours alone"

"The drake . . ." Lathain began

"Can kiss my ass" KC interrupted "I owe him for earlier anyhow"

Lathain looked down at my hand and then up at me "It's not a suicide mission" I told him, he stared at me for what seemed like an age and finally I could feel the tension leave him and he sighed loudly

"Ten minutes" he said "I'll go check to see if that blasted cloud has gone then we'll make our move" he gave me a smile "but I'm only doing it because you're pretty" he said with a slight laugh. I felt my cheeks heat and I punched his arm. He was teasing me on purpose.

"You're an ass" I grumbled

"You love me really" he teased "I'll be back in a sec" he nodded to Whisperer and walked around him leaving me slightly red in the face. I looked up to see Whisperer give me an awkward smile and I glanced away, I looked up at the door we had entered by just long enough to see Lathain pause in the doorway. "Lathain?" I whispered. He turned to me in the doorway and my breath caught in my throat; those eyes! The same eyes I had seen before, this was Tibet all over again, except this time there was no greater demon threat, no reason to save us, no reason for the look of goodbye on his face, the look of regret, we were in no danger yet, we just had to wait a few minutes. . . the drake, no, could he? . . .


	21. Chapter 21

His eyes looked down to an object in his hand; he turned and dropped the grenade shutting the door behind him. The grenade bounced then rolled to my feet where I could only stare at it for a split second before my survival reaction cut in. I scooped up the grenade, running to the door, the movements felt painfully slow, as if I was running through treacle, skidding to the door I opened it, throwing the grenade through the opening, I saw a flash of Lathain's back as he raced away, the grenade hit the floor then went off.

I hit the floor, diving low and covering my head with my arms as the sound burst out, my ears screaming in protest, waited for the frags to hit my body, seconds passed, but nothing. I looked up, a wall of black glass before me. A physical barrier, blocking light from the whole doorway, my ears were ringing from the whine that had escaped the grenade, no barrier would have stopped that. I stood quickly, but wavering, pushing the barrier, it didn't move, but Lathain . . . _I had to get to him, he was leaving_ . . .

I hit the barrier with my fist, cold to the touch it did not move, my ears ringing I screamed out, hitting the barrier harder, still it would not break. I shouted out to drop the barrier, my ears picking up only a muffled static noise. I turned, Whisperer was stood, a confused look on his face. Wizbit was helping KC up from the floor where she had landed, taking a protective dive as I had, my hearing clearing as I pounded the glass, I had to get to him, had to get to Lathain. He was leaving me behind, he wasn't suppose to go alone, _never alone_ , we were a team, we were suppose to look out for each other, an image flashed before my eyes. Emmett

Emmett stood over me; pistol in hand, betrayal, turning his back on me, the image overlaid with the last look Lathain had given me, betrayal.

Something in me broke, panic welling up. My ears out as they were still I heard the crack in the very centre of my soul; I turned to pound on the glass again. I could hear noises now, muffled shouts as my hearing returned. The wall before me vanished and I was through, the spell broken, I raced up the stairs, blasting my way through the trap door. Splinters of wood flying everywhere, pages of dusty books fluttered to the ground around me, an over turned bookcase over the doorway. I sprinted for the door to the hut, locked and barred a shock wave took care of that in short order.

Outside under the blue sky, smoke still heavy on the air I spun, looking for Lathain, _nowhere_ , I ran out to the opening in the streets, the crossroads of the old city, nothing, no Lathain anywhere, he was gone.

No he couldn't be gone, he couldn't leave me, he wouldn't leave me behind, but there was no-one there. The crack inside me grew, I saw darkness and Emmett's face, Lathain was gone, leaving me behind, an image of a grave flashed before me, No, not again. Dash, Emmett, Hanson. They were all gone, once there, once a part of me, people I trusted, had all left me, I was being abandoned again.

The panic was too much, the pressure building I screamed for him, Lightning and waves blasting out, tearing up the street, breaking windows. So many had left me behind, every time I built trust they were taken away from me. Hanson's body covered in blood, that moment in Tibet when the whole world was lost to us, we had been lost, about to die, no escape, but we had been together, we had survived, we were not alone. But now, here in this foreign city, where everything was deadly he had left me, the pain kept coming, and I could no longer see, the world blurred and all the while all I could think was that he had left me, abandoned me. We were supposed to protect each other, we had survived the wrath of gods together, we were strong together. And something more, once there, fleeting and now gone. I felt so lost, in so much pain.

Strong arms wrapped around me, holding me tight, restraining but also gentle. I opened my eyes, expecting the green of Lathain, instead only the blue of Whisperer. He eyes soft, apologetic, concerned, even a little afraid . . . not the eyes I wanted, not the arms I needed, but seeing him there gave me a finality. I broke completely and cried.


	22. Chapter 22

It was nearly half an hour before I could breathe again, that whole time Whisperer held me, gentle, but reserved. As if he would hold me too tight and I would break, I was now fragile to him. All the while he muttered reassurances to me, that Lathain was alive, that there was more to his disappearance, that we would find the answer, I barely heard him until Wizbit mentioned the drake. I calmed a moment. Wizbit recalling Tibet to KC and Whisperer, Convoy all ears

"He's sacrificing himself to protect us" I heard him say "He's difficult, always trying to be the hero" I was tired of him protecting me. I stood quickly, Whisperer jumping at my sudden movement, I glanced around, rubble and the street floor torn to shreds, _my work_. Convoy straightened as a roar was heard, his truck appearing into view in the distance, heading for us.

"You know he's coming back right?" Wizbit said to me, I shook my head

"He's got a mental drake and a Mega Corp on his ass, he won't make it out of this one on his own", no, the look on his face had been final, not only would he not make it out alive from whatever hell hole he was walking into, it was that he didn't _intend_ to get out. He was walking in there to be captured, maybe even to die.

I pulled my coat off, then systematically checked my weapons, daggers, one pistol with only five bullets remaining, limited energy to cast spells, as well as heavy wounds and bone tired, I was pretty screwed.

Whisperer caught my face . . . "You can't be serious?" he said looking at me, KC caught my eye, she took a step back from whatever she saw on my face, then shrugged. She pulled the katana from her back and handed it to me, I took it without a word and pulled it across my own back. KC busy readying her weapons and checking her magazines. "You're serious aren't you?" Whisperer said, shocked "You're going after him? You really are crazy"

"Better to be crazy than be a coward" KC shot back at him. Whisperer's fists clenched tight, but it didn't show on his face.

"He doesn't want to be followed, he's made that quite clear" Whisperer said "We should look at another way to close this rift, get more information before making a move" he persisted "not go rushing in to save someone that doesn't want to be saved"

"So what's the plan?" KC asked, jamming a mag into her assault rifle, ignoring Whisperer

"What we got?" Wizbit asked, Convoy took a breath and whistled through his teeth in thought

"Let's see, we got less than half our original ammo supply, all our magical mumbo jumbo is nearly spent, there isn't a one of us in not need of serious medical needs, we're pretty much being held together by duct tape and stims alone, we got one AWOL elf with no way to track or trace him, half the crew we set out with, no weapon, no drones or droids to help, we're fucked"

"He asked what we had, not what we don't" KC shot at him

"We have a mage who can trace his astral signature whilst it's still fresh" I said looking at Wizbit "We got a veritable arsenal" I looked to KC "A tactician" looking at Convoy "A mage who isn't yet spent" My eyes levelling on Whisperer, "and we got one pissed of spectre who isn't going to stop until Lathain gives her a damn good reason to" I checked my boot for the knife there, then threw my coat to Wizbit "You'll get more use out of this than I would" I said

"But doesn't this stop them from sensing you?. . ." he began

"Yep" I interrupted "I want the bastards to know I'm coming" I turned on my heels and started walking back towards the main city "Those with me get your ass in gear and keep up, those not, keep out of my way"

Convoy's truck waiting at the end of the street, here at least the road was suitable for a vehicle. Convoy ran to the door, I swear I thought I saw him kiss the door before he got in, machine nut.

Inside were Lathain's dual foci weapons, a tomahawk he had been given in the Amazon and a rapier he had picked up on one of his previous missions. I figured that given we now were looking at fighting the brotherhood where conventional weapons did little damage it might not be a bad idea to take them along with us, plus I could use them to beat Lathain to death with.

"KC" I threw the rapier to her, she took it with a grin "Hold onto that for the Elf" I told her, she nodded and slung it into a holster. I took the tomahawk for myself

"Do you have an idea where he went?" Convoy asked "he rolled open a storage container in the truck, inside were my bow and arrows and fresh ammo, though not nearly enough for what we needed. A lot of KC's weapons wouldn't fire what we had available. We dumped what we didn't need back in the truck

"Easy" Wizbit said "wherever there's the most trouble to be had, plus there's that tower you guys saw the brotherhood come through" he said with a grin.

"There" I said pointing to the huge black spire in the distance, "He'll be there, with half an hour head start he'll be almost there by now"

"How do you know that?" Convoy asked, though putting the truck into gear and turning to that direction regardless.

"Because Lathain doesn't waste time, and as an elf he can move a damn sight faster than any of us" I said taking a seat by KC in the front cab, I turned round to Whisperer, despite being the least enthusiastic about going after Lathain he was prepping weapons. He caught me looking and I saw something in those blue eyes of his, I realised then that he was on our side.

Everything about his persona, from the second I had met him had been that people view him as he wants them to see him, not as the person he is. The glasses the quiet demeanour, the unassuming air he generated, hell even his holsters, laid further back on the belt gave the impression he wasn't as much of a threat to anyone. He didn't want to be seen for what he was, watchful, keen eyed, alert and above all deadly. Yet with me he had let me see that side, let me see a little of his strengths, and in the look of regret he was giving me in that moment I also saw his weakness, he was no coward; he could cope with being called many things but a coward wasn't one of them, I knew then that I could trust him, but I was still angry at him for what he had said

"When this is over you and me are going to have a very long talk" I told him, he simply nodded and carried on prepping his pistols.


	23. Chapter 23

"Uh guys, we have a spot of trouble" Convoy said pulling round a corner, a check point stood before us. A couple of guys and a flimsy barrier "What do you think? Should we stop or plough through them?"

"Stop first, they might let us through" Wizbit said leaning forward, I didn't blame him, we were all bone tired, further confrontations would put even more of a drain on our bodies. Convoy nodded and brought the truck to a halt, one armed guard came to the side of the truck, KC let the window down

"Be nice" I told her, she scowled at me

"I can be nice"

"Be _extra_ nice" she snorted and turned to the guard who was waiting patiently, she cleared her throat and smiled as sweetly as she was able

"Can we pass?" she said, she gave me a look over her shoulder that said _see I can be nice_

"Please" I said

"Please?" she asked that sweet smile again, the guard did not look convinced

"Sorry but this is Rambler territory Missy, You'll have to turn around"

"Missy?" KC's tone went cold I put a retraining hand on her arm, the guard sensed the change, and put a hand to his firearm

"Step out of the vehicle Missy" he said, I knew then there was no holding her back

"Convoy" I whispered, he nodded just as KC leaned out the window of the truck, striking the guard clear around the face causing his to fall back on his arse

"Call me MISSY!" She yelled as Convoy hit the gas "Call _ME_ MISSY!" I pulled her back inside the truck window before we hit the barrier, splinters of wood flying everywhere. Whisperer lent around KC's chair and yelled out of the window

"Sorry about the mess!" Convoy did not look happy, Wizbit however couldn't stop grinning

"That was awesome" he said.

"That was stupid" Convoy said "We have company" sure enough riding our tail were several bikes, more following at every turn, bugger. Wizbit gave me a look that told me we were screwed if we had to fight them all.

"How bad?" I asked Convoy, he had a better view than I did

"Pretty bad" he said, the truck lurched to one side as he served round a corner, he must be doing near sixty in tight streets, his driving skill was amazing, however in this territory bikes had the advantage

"We need to lose them somehow" Whisperer said, "Maybe knock a few off, give them a scare, the others might back off" a scare huh? I eyed the panel in front of me, eyes resting on the electrified defence button, I didn't have much of my own energy left but the truck still had more than enough. . .

"KC swap with me, Whisperer, cover my ass" I said, KC caught the gleam in my eye and moved over with a grin

"Bite them hard" she said, I nodded, shuffling over her and climbing out the window

"In a second KC hit the switch for the defence" I yelled over the sound of the wind in my face, hair flying around, the tendrils whipping so much they stung like fine needles "Wizbit, stay ready in case I fall on my ass" Wizbit nodded and gave me a look that told me to be careful, The truck hood was slippy, one leg swung wildly, much to Convoy's annoyance as I slipped into his view, luckily pulling myself up again. I climbed carefully onto the roof of the truck, on my knees to give me more stability. I moved closer to the edge, a troop of bikes followed, two front riders pulling closer to the truck, one had a look that said he would be more than willing to jump onto the truck, _bite them hard_ KC had said, sure why not, I placed one hand flat and firm on the truck body, the other hand outstretched, _here's something you can't do_ I thought with a smile

"NOW!" I yelled at the top of my voice.

An electric charge built up and around me, the truck's electric defence mechanism adding to my own power, _a girl could get used to a boost like this_. I focused for a second then released, my hand burned as a thick coil of lightning tore from it, the coil bending out, striking the front two riders clear from their bikes like a material hammer, the coil unwound, at it's head was a snakes open hissing jaw, forked lightning tongue, huge domed eyed threatened the riders, the screech of tires was loud in my ears as the riders halted their pursuit. All that is but one, a single loan rider, bare chested but for an iron ring held by leather straps.

"Bite them hard" I murmured then released the spell, the snake lunged forward hitting the rider square in the chest, I kept a small charge up only to stop myself being electrocuted from Convoy's truck. The rider miraculously was alive from the smoke that the snake had caused; his bike however, was not. With a glare that sent a shiver down my spine he slowed to a halt, pulling the iron ring from his chest that burnt white hot, still alive he spat on the floor in disgust, I saluted his disappearing form, respect for the guy who could take a hit like that. I felt the charge beneath me disengage, and I vented the remaining energy before making the climb back to the cab, I swung in, landing heavily in Whisperer's lap, he instantly went red, and I scrambled up to sit in the back with Wizbit before I could do the same.

"You're starting to think like the elf" Wizbit commented I couldn't correct him, I was getting more bold and flashy with my stunts, I doubted I would get away with as much as Lathain though, he seemed to have the gods of luck on his side.

I rubbed my hand from the burn; Wizbit took my hand about to heal it before I pulled it away

"It's not that bad, we might need your healing ability later" I told him, he simply shrugged

"K guys we're coming up on the spire" Convoy said

At the spire's base it was armed guards. Convoy pulled his rig into a side alley whilst we surveyed the area

"So what's the plan for getting past those guys?" KC asked Wizbit, he simply shrugged

"I suppose we could sneak in somehow" He said

"I could just kill them all" KC said with a grin

"How about we walk up to the front door?" Whisperer suggested, he gave me a look that told me he had an idea

"Front door it is, and if they cause a fuss then KC can have some fun" I said , KC gave me a disappointed look

"After you Ghost" Whisperer said "try it your way first, then I'll pull rank if it's needed"  
"pull rank?"

"I'll explain all later" He promised, I wasn't happy about this but if it was going to get me to Lathain any time soon then I needed to co-operate with him.


	24. Chapter 24

"Halt" The guard at the front said

"Halt?" I asked in a mocking tone "No-one says halt anymore" he looked a little put off by my attitude, not quite sure where he stood,

"Uh, stop right there" he said "What do you want?"

"I've come for the elf" I told him truthfully, he raised his eyebrow in question "the Storm" I clarified. He continued to look blankly at me. "I need to talk to the drake, the Joker" I said switching tactics

"He's not here" he said carefully "If he was then we'd know about it" a buzz on his com link radio, and his eyes went wild

"That would be the storm" I said and tried to move past him

"You can't pass" the dwarf said moving in front of me, gutsy bugger

"I can and will kill you" I warned

"Maybe so but you can't pass" He stood firm, impressive for a little guy, though he was eyeing my arm tattoos with a look of awe and fear

"Oh we don't have the time" Whisperer breathed in annoyance, he stepped forward and put a playing card in the dwarf's hand "Now move" he ordered the dwarf dumbfounded stepped aside, waving for his men to do the same, the king of clubs in his hand

"I swear . . ."

"I know" he interrupted "All explanations later" we stepped aside lest the guard change his mind, he started to ramble into his comm. as we passed, best hot foot it

"Did you catch what the radio said?" I asked

"Think the Elf is by the ground floor elevator" KC said hand to her comm. "there's a bit of a fight going on" _naturally_ I thought

We raced into the main foyer, where sure enough there was a fight going on between a large troll and Lathain; we entered just as Lathain got pulled up and over the troll. The troll intending to smash the elf on the floor was somewhat surprised when the elf caught the other leg round the shoulder and grabbed his horns; the effect meant he was now sitting on the troll's shoulders.

"Lathain!" I shouted, rage sweeping up, I strode across the foyer, passing an unassuming man reading a newspaper, as if he did this every single day and that the fighting was no different than a work colleague having a coffee.

My pace set I marched forward, the troll gave me a confused look as I strode up, swinging my arm and connecting it with the trolls face. The troll bent near double bringing Lathain within my left arm's reach. I slapped him wholly across the face, much to his surprise. The troll was then riddled with holes from behind me. The work of the _team_ that had accompanied me. I was vaguely aware of some magic going off around Wizbit's general direction. The troll fell backwards, Lathain rolling from his shoulders to stand shakily as the troll fell, I wasn't done

"Lathain if you ever pull a stunt like that again!" I shouted, stepping over the troll's dead body to slap the elf once again around his face, I brought up my hand again, and he caught my wrist, I struggled for a moment before he pulled me into a tight embrace, his lips to my forehead

"I'm sorry, I swear I'll make it up to you" he whispered, I blinked back tears, both of anger and relief that he was still alive

"You better" I warned him "Don't ever leave me like that again, or I swear to god I'll kill you myself"

"I promise" he pulled away, pushing a strand of my hair from my face, then turned to the rest of the guys, I caught a flash of something in Whisperer's face as he looked away, but right now I didn't care what it was.

"Alright people" Lathain said "What's the plan?" Wizbit stepped forward, smiled in a short grin and thumped him square in the face. The elf went down

"OWWW!" he screamed holding his face "Wizbit that hurt!" Wizbit straightened his collar and gave me a smile

"I didn't get a kiss" he complained, and flashed me a grin that I couldn't help but return.


	25. Chapter 25

"We're heading to the top yes?" KC said cocking the rifle back, nods all around "Then lets move" no further words needed we headed to the elevator, something of a squash but it was acceptable enough, I crammed myself in the corner beside Lathain, I wasn't letting the elf out of my sight until this whole ordeal was over. The glass elevator made its way up to floor 24 where it stayed

"I am sorry, maintenance work in this sector prevents this elevator from proceeding, please use the next available device" the tannoy blurred. _Maintenance?_

I caught Whisperer's eye, he glanced upwards and I nodded. He moved around Wizbit to face me, Lathain gave him an uncertain look as he cupped his hands. Wizbit helped KC to pull the door aside slightly, the doors opened out into the corridor for floor twenty four. KC stared out in horror; even Lathain looked a little pale. Looking beyond Whisperer the floor was filled with bodies, insectoid and metahuman alike, strange webbing hung from the walls. We would go up then. Boosted by Whisperer I was on the roof of the elevator in moments.

The darkness stretched upwards before me, _odd_ , I thought, the lights for crew weren't on. My stomach fell as I sensed something of unease, stepping aside on the roof as Lathain joined me up there, Whisperer soon followed. Climbing wouldn't be a problem, but there was something wrong with the maintenance hatch for the floor above, it hung off its edging as if it had been closed in a hurry. I stepped forward pulling Lathain's tomahawk from my belt as I went, he gripped my wrist a moment in question, I put a finger to my lips, he nodded "I need that back when you're done" he whispered, with the crazy brotherhood insects clearly in the building we would need a weapon that could actually harm them.

I set my foot against the railings and hoisted myself up to peer through the hatch, the corridor beyond it was dark and I could barely see a foot in front of me. I wriggled head first through the gap of the hatch, the frame had been bent making it near impossible for any of the others to follow, I doubted anyone but Lathain would manage to get through. The corridor was cold, in the dim light that followed me from the elevator shaft I could see my breath condensing. My heart thumped against my chest, the only sound in the bleak corridor. I fumbled around my belt looking for a glowstick, remembering that I had used them all earlier. I bent down beside the hatch.

"Lathain" I whispered "think you can get in here?" I asked. Lathain was quick to join me, though he had significantly more trouble squeezing through the gap than I had "what can you see" I whispered, his elven eyes better in the low light than mine.

"a lot of webbing" he replied, his voice low, he held his hand out for the tomahawk which I dutifully handed him, I thought to draw the katana but it was too long for such a confined space, I remembered the memory blade and pulled it free, the blade fluid for a moment before solidifying into a short sword, Lathain kept one eye on the corridor "is that what I think it is?" he asked in awe, I shrugged. On the other side of the hatch I heard the others climbing on to the roof of the elevator "we're going to see if there's another elevator up" Lathain said "I'd try making your way up to the top" he said

"Why the top?" Convoy asked

"Because the bad guys always unleash their evil plans on the topmost floor" he said with a grin

"What about you guys?" KC asked "we should stick together"

"It might be a little late for that" Lathain whispered, putting out an arm to move me slightly behind him "Ghost, close the hatch, _slowly_ " he said, his eyes forward. I slowly closed the hatch, much to the annoyance of KC and Whisperer

"We'll catch up" I said, Lathain handed me the weapon which I passed through the gap before it closed. A broken piece of metal lay on the floor and I used it to wedge the door shut. It wouldn't stop anything from getting in, but it would at least make a noise doing so and alert to team as they climbed up.

"Can you use your sight?" Lathain asked me

"it won't help in the dark" I said "I'll be able to see the critters but not where I'm going" I warned

"I'll guide you" he said taking hold of my hand "step exactly where I tell you" he said "and I mean _exactly_ "

I shifted my focus to the astral realm, the image blurry as the spell held little power, but it was enough to see the swarm before me. Clinging to the edges in large masses swarmed hundreds of small spider like creatures. Each the size of a tennis ball. Wherever there was webbing they congregated.

"Lathain" I whispered suddenly afraid, he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze

"We're alright" he said "they don't seem to be interested in us yet" he said "just don't touch the webs" he edged forward, I nearly stumbled to keep close to him and I could feel the charge inside starting to build "steady Ghost" Lathain said The charge beneath my skin crawled and wound tighter, the scars on my body started to glow. _At least I can see now_ , I thought to myself. I tried to keep the charge from building any higher, not wanting to electrocute Lathain.

I followed as he picked his way between the webs, ducking and stepping over wherever the webs drew across our path. Occasionally we saw bodies of dead metahumans, most looked like guards, but I had to bite back the bile in my throat as we passed the bodies of two elven women. Their perfect skin marred by hundred of tiny bite marks and a thick green fluid oozed from their eyes and open mouths. We picked our way around the corridors looking for another elevator shaft. Instead we came across a set of stairs.

"Do you have your lock picks?" he asked. I nodded and felt around my belt for them, I handed him the pouch and he drew out the tiny mirror, holding it beneath the edge of the door. "It's clear of spiders" he whispered "and there's daylight too, the stairs must have windows" he gingerly felt the door to give it a push, but it wouldn't budge. Confused he checked the handle; there was no lock that he could see, not even a pad access point.

"What's wrong?" I asked

"I can't get the door open" he said "it's stuck" I kept my eyes out and around the corridors, there were spiders in most of the webs, though not as many here as there had been near the hatch. Under the vision of my astral sight they sat patiently in their webs, some mended broken strands. "Do you think you can open it?" he asked

"I guess we'll find out" I said swapping places with him. I tried to focus the energy in my body from electricity to my hands; if I could push my hands through the door then I might be able to open it from the other side. The spell spluttered and died in my hands. I took a breath to steady myself and tried to focus again, the spell rose and died again, _come on!_ I thought. I switched off my sight to conserve energy and tried again, _third time's a charm_ , I pleaded to myself, just as the spell began to gain momentum to begin the push I heard the sound of crawling insects behind me

"Whatever you're doing Ghost" Lathain whispered "I'd be quick about it"

"I'm trying" I hissed at him. The charge within me grew again and my scars glowed brightly. I felt Lathain take a slight step away from the door

"Ghost" he warned "Ghost I think . . ." in my hands the spell died again and I cursed, lifting my head to look down the now brightly lit corridor, all the spiders were now moving, and they were headed straight for us.

"Run" Lathain whispered, taking my hand and hissing at the electric bite he dragged me down a corridor as the spiders began to give chase.


	26. Chapter 26

We ran as quickly as we were able, dodging the spiders that hung over us, trying not to get caught in the webs that threatened to trip us. The only light we could see by was the charge I carried, given that fact I was loathed to use it against the creatures chasing us until it was absolutely necessary. The sound was that out of nightmares thousands of tiny legs scuttling to run us down. Lathain spotted a second door to the stairs and hit it at a run, shoulder barging the door for us to sprawl in the stairwell.

I rolled over and let loose the charge I held right into the corridor, the tiny spiders shrieked and screamed the stench of the chitin bodies as they fried in the heat made me gag. My charge spent I rolled to my feet as Lathain leapt forward to shut the door, a few spiders hooked their legs through the doorway trying to reach us, but the light in the corridor made their skin start to steam and they withdrew.

"Guess we know why the corridor was so dark" Lathain panted "little vampires can't stand the sunlight" he looked up the stairwell to see if anything else were around, but things looked clear. "Wizbit's comm. unit is offline and I can't get through to KC or Whisperer either"

"What about Convoy?" I asked

"His has been broken since the rambler attack" Lathain reminded me "we should get going, they're probably already on the top level" he said, he picked up my memory blade from where it had fallen as we'd broken through the door "I'd keep that thing a secret from everyone" he said "the best weapon is the one they don't know you have" he warned, he handed me the blade and I tucked it back into the belt. "How are you feeling?" he asked

"Drained" I admitted "If it weren't for the electricity I think I'd had have been spent hours ago" I sighed as we started to take the stairs two at a time "I can't wait to get home and take a bath" I said

"Well I'd just be happy with a pizza around about now" he said "seriously we haven't eaten a thing and I'm half starved" The railing of the stairs shook slightly and Lathain glanced up "They'll be at the top then" he grinned "Sounds like we're missing all the fun" we raced as quickly as we were able, meeting no resistance on our ascent

"Where are the bugs?" I asked "you'd think they'd be out here on the stairs" I puffed, five flights still to go

"Maybe they're all anti sunlight?" Lathain guessed "I'm just glad there's no trouble" he said "I've seen enough to last me a few weeks" I laughed despite being out of breath "I don't know why you're laughing" he said with a grin "the trouble is following you home" he said

"You mean KC?" I asked, I wasn't aware he knew I'd offered her to stay with me

"I mean the drink jockey" Lathain said "be careful around him, something doesn't sit well with him and I can't put my finger on it" he warned, I stopped laughing

"What do you mean?" I asked "I have no intention of taking Whisperer "home" with me as you imply", Lathain gave me a look that told me Whisperer wouldn't wait for an invitation "are you jealous?" I asked my mouth running before I could sensor my thoughts. Lathain stopped on the stairs turned and looked at me hard.

"If I say that I am?" he asked "would that change anything?"

"I don't know" I answered honestly "it depends on why you're jealous" I said _you want to talk about this now?_ I thought, then reasoned that I'd asked the question

"I'm not jealous of Whisperer" Lathain said turning to walk back up the stairs "I'm jealous of the position he's in" he admitted

"The position he's in?" I asked "he's been captive for months, lost and out of touch with events of the world with no real place to go, why would you possibly be jealous of his position?" I asked

Lathain laughed softly and started to pick up the pace of the ascent again "he has more in common with you than I do, he's a mage for a start, and he can get close to you in a way that I can't" he glanced over his shoulder "at least without being electrocuted" he said

"I don't even know him" I began

"But everything about the way you are around him says that you do, you're already connected on some level that I don't understand, though I don't think that you do either" he said. He sighed heavily "I just don't want to see you get hurt" he began "you're important to . . ."

Before he could finish the stairwell shook violently and the level above blew out sending pieces of wood and dry wall raining down the stairs, we picked up the pace, Lathain with his guns at the ready, as we reached the top the body of a mantis insect hurtled backwards over the stairwell railing and down to the bottom floor. I reached the top moments after Lathain just in time to see a huge drake expand his chest and open his jaws.

Lathain barrelled in to me and nearly sent me flying down the stairs. The fireball that went past was hot enough to make my skin blister. Lathain stood and battered at his shoulder which had caught alight. He rolled and helped me up. I pulled my bow from my back and pulled the string taught. I drew an arrow and readied it; I'd shoot from a distance until we could gauge the carnage inside. I fired an arrow at the drake which dominated the remains of the room. I could hear the gunfire of KC and see the blue flares which told me Wizbit and Whisperer were using their magic.

The arrow hit the drake in the side of the face. It snapped its head my way as a second arrow dug into the ridge above its eye. Lathain rushed past me to where Wizbit could be seen on the ground

"Cover me!" he yelled, I fired another arrow which hit the drake's snout, torn between attacking Lathain and myself the drake hissed, a forth arrow struck it's cheek, the left side of its huge face now resembling a pin cushion

"Hey!" I shouted at the creature, it's attention now fully on me, I let loose another arrow, its wing flicked up to take the damage, rather than the face "Didn't I tell you that you'd have to get through me first?" I drew back the bow and let loose my charge. The arrow held and acted as a guide, striking the drake in a glancing blow the arrow did little damage, but the electricity route it established burnt.

The drake howled and rose on its rear feet in spasm. One of its huge wings lashed out, catching a mantis bug and throwing it across the room. So the brotherhood were here too.

I shot arrow after arrow, each charged, each delivering more than a nuisance wound. I started to advance, stepping over the bodies of the brotherhood swarm that had greeted the party before us. I was unrelenting, the electric charge stopping the drake from moving his own muscles as they cramped under the electricity, from the corner of my eye I saw Lathain over Wizbit's fallen form, the mage not moving, to the other side KC took out mantis alternating firing her pistols to drive them back and swinging Lathain's rapier to remove their heads. Whisperer fired mana bolt after mana bolt into the fray. I couldn't see Convoy and feared the worst.

Suddenly my hand grasped at air, my arrows spent.

I used my bow to trip a mantis that raced to attack me and pulled a blade from my back holster, throwing it at the drake the blade bounced off the hard scales. Now able to move the drake roared in defiance and beat its wings, the movement causing huge gusts in the relatively tiny space, the ground littered with arrows that fell from its hide. It landed on its feet and swung its great tail, knocking KC, whisperer and several bugs from their feet. It lashed out a wing which hit me square in the chest throwing me to the end of the room. I stumbled as I tried to stand, realising just in time that the glass of the windows was blown and I was looking at a fifty story drop. I rolled and hit the deck as the tail swung around again, hitting the support beam beside me showering me with debris.

The drake stamped its forefeet and snarled "Lathain . . ." it hissed "you'll pay for your insolence" it lunged it's head forward, jaws snapping, a wing flew out catching KC off guard causing her to drop her rapier, and now it blocked my view of Lathain and Wizbit.

I stood and shook the cement dust from me for a moment, but it was a moment too long. The tail swung around and caught me straight in the chest, the momentum driving me off my feet and out the window.

I screamed and clamped my arms as tight as I was able, now holding on to the drake's tail as it thrashed. An arm slipped and I had only a moment to grab a knife from my holster, using it to dig in to the drake's thick tail. The pain in its tail caused the drake to howl again, thrashing its tail to shake me lose. The pain must have given Lathain the opening he needed as the sound of a very loud gun could be heard just moments before the drake shook with electricity. Unfortunately attached as I was the charge hit me too, my skin blistered and the shock made me let go of my knife and my only decent purchase. I hit the floor hard and slid towards the hole in the window, I tried to stop the slide but I was headed straight for it.


	27. Chapter 27

Suddenly I hit a barrier that shimmered for a moment before breaking apart; I rolled further into the room to be away from the edge before I could be thrown out. Strong hands grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me backwards out of range of a strange bug that spat a green fluid towards me.

"I've heard of women who climb out of windows to escape their dates, but don't you think that's a bit extreme" Whisperer's voice laughed at me, he tugged me again and my feet back pedalled away from the green fluid that landed where my feet had been

"Thanks" I said hurriedly "Where's Convoy?" I shouted over the noise of the drake's roar

"I think he's been hit" Whisperer shouted back, blasting a mana bolt from one hand whilst firing his pistol in the other "Wizbit used the weapon on the opening and closed the rift then collapsed" A mantis charged him and he kicked his boot into the face of the snapping jaws before filling it with lead.

I shot a charge at a mantis and ducked the swing of the drake's tail, just in time to see Lathain jump and swing onto the drake's back. The drake went wild, rising and stomping, thrashing its wings and tail trying to throw Lathain. In the corner of my eye KC gutted the spitting insect. The last bug now taken care of Whisperer and KC turned their attention to the drake. I looked about to where Wizbit had fallen and raced to his side. He was coated in blood, a strange green liquid, probably from the spitter, had splashed his body, his coat and gear where the green fluid lay had started to bubble, as though it were some sort of acid.

I pulled his body as far from the drake as I could manage and stripped his overcoat off, pulling back the shirt he wore, both to stop the acid and to gauge the damage beneath. It was a sea of red and I had to steel myself a moment lest I throw up. I placed a hand on his pulse and tried to concentrate, but all I could feel was my own wildly beating pulse.

I heard Lathain screaming at the drake as he dug his tomahawk into his back over and over again, he looked lost and out of control, but then as I looked at Wizbit I realised that he had probably seen Wizbit dead and snapped. I steadied my stomach and pushed a hand onto Wizbit's chest, the body slick with blood. I took a deep breath and let out a charge. Wizbit's body spasmed then went still. I had no idea if I was giving him enough juice or too much but I hit him again, the shock causing him to spasm violently. I reached over him, pulling back his chin and opening his mouth, I filled my lungs and then his. Once, twice, holding my hands over his chest I compressed down, trying to remember how many and losing count, I breathed for him again and again, breathing and compressing, alternating charges of electricity in a bid to jump start his heart.

Around me the drake screamed and roared, ceiling tiles fell and glass broke. Something grabbed my shoulder and I screamed back pedalling, Convoy stood there, his shoulder bleeding, a gash over his eye near blinding him, he stumbled to sit beside me.

"Sorry" he mumbled

"Glad you're alive" I said

"Don't feel it" he complained, he looked fit to keel over, his face a pallid green colour "I need to help" he said looking down at the pistol in his hands, the chamber back and frozen he was out of bullets.

I pulled my pistol from my holster and handed it to him. "Cover me" I said, he nodded and slumped beside me taking random shots. They were probably wide, his eyes were too unfocused. I breathed for Wizbit again, my lungs now on fire. I hit him again, pounding my fist into his chest, suddenly he gasped and his eyes shot open making me jump.

Wizbit's eyes searched wildly and at first I thought he'd gone blind before they settled on my face, he smiled softly before his injuries caught up with him and his face creased in pain

"I'm not dead then?" he asked, his voice harsh and raspy

"No but you'll wish you were" I said "think you can stay alive long enough for me to help Lathain?" I asked, he coughed and rolled onto his side, feeling behind his back he withdrew a large pistol, he glanced at it a moment then handed it to me

"I'm not going anywhere" he said, I took the gun and pulled my own pistol from Convoy's unresisting fingers, Convoy's eyes were wide and unfocused, but he was alive. The mag was nearly empty on both; I would have to make each bullet count. I moved to the front of the drake as it continued to swing and thrash, I fired steady rounds into its face, Lathain hacked at its back and KC continued to slash at it from the side.

Whisperer appeared beside me holding Lathain's utility belt, his fist wrapped around something "got any juice left?" he asked, unloading the last of his Lugar into the drake's face

"Maybe" I replied

"When I give the word shock him" Whisperer said dodging a heavy wing that crashed between us, he raced around to the front of the drake, directly in his face "hey asshole" he said "come get me" the drake's eyes levelled on Whisperer, it swung its tail in annoyance knocking KC over. Lathain I now realised was using his tomahawk to hang onto the scaly back; the dark blood from so many wounds coated him. The drake roared and drew in a deep breath.

Then Whisperer threw the grenade.

It caught in the drake's throat and hit hard enough cause the drake to choke

"Now!" Whisperer shouted. I hit the drake with every bit a juice I had left, the electricity set off the grenade in the drake's throat and the creature's head literally exploded from its shoulders. The drake's body thrashed and spasmed for a moment before falling over, finally still an eerie quiet settled in the room.

Lathain slid from the scaled back and staggered over to where Wizbit laid, his legs crumpled beneath him and he sat panting and bleeding next to his friend

"I thought you'd taken a nap you lazy bastard" Lathain said with a grin

"Who is going to clean up your messes if I go?" Wizbit asked

I heard a soft groan from across the room and KC hauled herself from the rubble that had fallen around her, she was covered in dust, we all were. I looked about, not one member had gotten away without injury. Whisperer picked his way around the carcass of the drake and pulled something from the debris, it was a playing card. The Joker


	28. Chapter 28

"What say you to getting the fuck out of here?" KC asked, she pointed upwards to the hole in the roof, through the gap the tell tale blades of a chopper were just visible. I pondered our next move, we couldn't go back down the way we had come, there were still spiders and probably other bugs around, the chopper would not only get us out of the building, but out of Chicago

"What about the other bugs?" Whisperer asked "they need to be taken care of" he said, KC gave him a look that told him he was stupid

"They have no way of getting back to their own realm, the mages who opened it are dead, the device is spent, leave them" Wizbit said trying to get to his feet with Lathain's help "We should get out of here"

We slowly made our way up what remained of the stairs to the roof. Convoy walking numbly with Lathain and Wizbit supporting each other. Whisperer held up KC who dragged her left leg, the compound fracture bleeding through her jeans, how she was standing at all was amazing to me. We were a mess, I was drained and blistered and we were all bone tired. Whisperer paused just long enough to pull the remains of the Weapon from the wreckage; it broke apart into four pieces, the chamber of blue light spent.

We got to the top of the roof and looked out over Chicago, the city would be in the wars for a while, at least whilst the Brotherhood were still lose. The view was quite incredible, the lake drifted off to the east, the ring of dark buildings which signalled the corridor and the laser etched map of the mage clouds broadcast on the low clouds.

"Bugger" I heard Wizbit wheeze beside me, we looked across to the chopper, dismay at the tiny size. The craft was barely big enough for two people, let alone six

"Options?" Whisperer asked, his face was pale and tired and he was as drained as the rest of us.

"Can anyone other than Lathain fly this thing?" I asked, it would take several trips at least, Convoy gingerly raised a hand, that at least gave me some ideas. I looked at the group. Wizbit was definitely out for the count, he was barely alive, let alone able to stand. KC was covered in blood and swaying, Convoy looked shell shocked and part of me wondered at his ability to fly. I reasoned that the guy did not actually fight for a living, and he'd probably seen more violence in the last two days than he had his whole life. Wizbit was spent; no ammo left other than some knives and his magic all but gone. Even Lathain looked worn to the bone, his usual chipper demeanour tired and sluggish, despite all the gear he used to boost his stamina. As for me? Of the party I was the least damaged but still tired and hungry

"Convoy can take the girls" Lathain began

"Actually" I interrupted, with far more authority in my voice than I really felt "This should be done based on level of injury" I told him, which means Wizbit is out, KC needs a medic and Convoy isn't fit to fight, you barely qualify" I told the elf "but you're at least standing and able to move quickly"

"I can still fight" KC objected

"And these two are defenceless" I reminded her "They need some fire power with them" I glanced at the blood around her leg, _that fracture would slow us down too_ I thought

"What about Whisperer?" KC pouted

"Whisperer will come with me, he's not dead so he can go the long way, besides" I turned to look at Whisperer in the face "he knows how to get out of Chicago without the proper paperwork" I said Whisperer had been the only one of the group to enter the city through an alternative route, so we would need him to get us out.

"The chopper won't fit three" KC said, clearly not liking being left out of the fight

"It will, you'll just have to get cosy" I told her "given I've got juice to spare I suggest you don't start a fight with me" I said, KC stood and straightened her shoulders, her face instantly paled and she slouched again, clearly something had not liked being moved. "Then it's settled" I said

We spent a moment collating the remains of our arsenal. We were relegated to blades only as no one had any ammo left. Lathain had a handful of grenades and we spread them out between those of us that were staying. I took Lathain's rapier, whilst Whisperer took KC's katana, Lathain had his tomahawk. That meant we each had a weapon that would either work against the brotherhood or afforded some measure of distance. Convoy checked the controls of the chopper, the fuel was low, but enough to get them out of the city, someone had helpfully left the exit code, stuck with selotape to the screen; they shouldn't have any issues with air support.

"Comm. Lathain when you land safely" I told Wizbit

"I should be going with you" he said, he rarely went anywhere without the elf and he almost never came away the loser, this was the worst I had seen him, and from the look on his face he'd never been so beat up before; it was clear he didn't like it one bit.

"That's stupid and you know it" I told him, helping to strap him in to the chopper "you shot the weapon, half your energy is gone and we've no idea to what extent" I told him "be sensible" he reached over and grabbed my hand.

"Thank you" he said "for saving my life" he looked guilty "I shouldn't have been so hard on you since Tibet"

"Careful Wizbit" I teased "anymore talk like this and I'll start to think you're falling for me" I laughed

Wizbit gave me a weak smile "I think I need to get in line" he said nodding to where Whisperer and Lathain were talking, I blushed and hid my face in my hair "take care out there" he warned. I nodded and moved aside so KC could strap in. The tiny chopper held only two full seats and no side doors; she perched on the edge of Wizbit's seat, strapped to the frame with her legs dangling off the edge onto the feet of the chopper.

"If anyone so much as goes near them" I told her "beat the shit out of them" I handed her a pistol I had found under the chopper seat, twelve bullets in the chamber "It's all I have for range, we'll make do on our way out with blades" I told her.

"You still wanna bunk with me when this is all over?" she asked "I can braid your hair whilst we watch romantic comedies and eat popcorn" she joked

"I'm more of a horror person" I said with a smile "but I have plenty of popcorn" I said, she smiled at me gratefully.

"Ghost" Lathain called, I stepped back from the chopper as Convoy started the motor "we should get moving, there are still bugs in the building"

"There's something you need to see" Whisperer said "but we'll leave it until we're in a safer spot" he said.

"Lead on" I said


	29. Chapter 29

We moved back to the stairwell, the noise of the chopper drowning out any other sound. Back in the room with the huge body of the large drake at first I wondered why we had stopped here until Lathain dug out my bow from the debris.

"I'll nab you some arrows whilst Whisperer takes care of something" Lathain said, I took the bow and started pulling arrows from the carcass, many were broken and useless but a few were still intact. Whisperer took pictures of the drake and pulled the Joker playing card from his pocket. The backing peeled away into two sticky strips. Whisperer added a drop of the drake's blood to one of the strips, taking one of my knives from his belt he cut his finger and applied a drop of his own blood to the mix and sealed the mixture with the other piece of tape.

"What is he doing?" I whispered to Lathain

"He's using the proper process to declare the current Joker dead and to replace him" Whisperer said "Also 'he' isn't deaf" he said giving me a pointed look

"You're taking over the A52's?" I asked "Is this the _need to know_ conversation we were going to have?"

"Pretty much" Lathain said handing me a handful of arrows, which made fifteen in total "you done yet?" he asked Whisperer

"Pretty much" Whisperer quoted replacing the tape to the back of the card; it blended in seamlessly to the design.

We headed out onto the stairwell, things seemed eerily quiet, but out the window that looked to the streets we could see fire crews and armed cars which were the equivalent of the police, it was only time before they made their way to the upper floors. We padded down to the thirty-ninth floor but could go no further, the stairwell broken into pieces, only metal rods and clumps of tile could be seen for at least five floors.

"Are we going to have to go through the spider den again?" Lathain asked, he clearly was not keen on this idea

"I thought that was floor twenty-five" I told him "so hopefully it'll be contained in that area only, we should look to get around it much earlier if possible though" _if only Lindsey had packed my grapple hook_ , I thought bitterly. Lathain nodded to my arm, looking down a faint glow over my scars could be seen, I hadn't even registered the charge was building

"Are you going to be alright?" Whisperer asked

"Probably" I said "At least I know I'm carrying some juice" I tested the door from the stairwell which opened easily and glanced down the corridor. Light filled the area so there would at least be no spiders. "Clear" I said. I readied my bow travelling the corridor, the guys in toe with Whisperer covering the rear. The area opened out into a central stairwell that looked up and down several floors. Scorch marks on the walls and a few bodies told me there had been a fight, but there was no sign of anything now. We took the stairs, the flooring covered with glass from the many barriers that had been broken, passing by empty offices. As we hit the last level of the mezzanine I heard a sound to my right.

I swung my bow around to aim at the source; a half dead mage stumbled from behind a counter

"I'm saved" he muttered, blood foaming from his mouth "Are you a mage?" he asked, his eyes were wide and blank, shell shocked as Convoy had been, he reached out an arm and I stepped away

"I'd keep back" I said the man was dressed in robes, grey and dusty with a hood. The robes were torn and splashed with blood. Lathain and Whisperer kept their distance, Whisperer pointed to something on the back of the man's robe

"He's one of the mages that opened the rift" Whisperer said "he has the same circle as the base sewn into his robes" The mage ignored Whisperer as if he wasn't even there but continued to step closer to me

"I need your help" he said "Please, I need . . ."

"Ghost!" Lathain shouted, I didn't see the mage had something grasped in his other hand, too late I realised he had cast a spell. The mage dropped the device and the lights went out. I felt like my body was being pulled in all directions, my stomach rolling. I barely kept hold of my bow and my insides. Then as suddenly as it had started it was over and I found myself stood inside a room. My gut gave in and I threw up, trying to draw in deep breathes and regain my composure; luckily for me my captor was also having a hard time.

The room was wide and surrounded in black glass. I was still holding my bow so I had clearly not been taken hostage or drugged. It was almost as if . . . there was no way I had been teleported. That kind of magic was way out of the league of mages. _It was still a theory_ , but here I stood. Around me the room was filled with dead bodies, all were mages where they had fallen. At first I suspected the brotherhood had taken them out, but they were clean, no blood, they looked like they had passed out. I ran over to one and checked his pulse. An old man's dead eyes stared up at me from behind his hood, they were all dead, all but the one in front of me.

"Now I can open the portal again" the robed man said with glee "they'll thank me, they'll reward me for this" he said. His eyes focused on something behind me "hold her"

Before I could move two huge claws grasped each of my arms and dragged me back away from the body. The claws dark green and insectoid, I tried to turn to see what held me but it dragged me from my feet making it impossible. I heard a sound to my right. Lathain and Whisperer could be seen on the other side of the glass; banging their fists hard against it. _So I was still in the building_. I caught my reflection in the dark glass; a mantid clung to me dragging me towards what looked like the centre of a circle. Surrounding the circle were more insects.

I was trapped.


	30. Chapter 30

The mantid that dragged me let me go as we reached the centre of the circle. My bow was pulled from my fingers as the insects surrounded me, too many to count. I closed my eyes and waited for the killing blow, but felt space around me. I opened one eye to find the mantid in a complete circle surrounding me, but the closest was about eight feet from me. Between the mantids I could see Lathain trying to crack the glass with his tomahawk to get to me. The blade bouncing harmlessly off the glass panels. Whisperer was seen racing around to try and find a door.

The mage that had caught me shuffled towards the circle, the mantids parted for him. He smiled at me, his eyes hollow and cold.

"This won't hurt if you don't move" he said with a smile, blood trickled down the side of his mouth. "One dies so the many can live" he laughed and held out is hands to the air looking towards the ceiling. He opened his mouth and started to chant. The words strange and so alien it was hard to believe the words came from a human tongue. I panicked and tried to race from the circle. Snapping jaws and claws greeted me. I couldn't get out; there was no way to pass through.

. . .

. . .

My fingers found their way to my belt and pulled the grenade loose. I looked across to Lathain who continued to hammer on the glass. He caught my eye and stopped, panicked he dropped the tomahawk and started to pound on the glass. I couldn't hear him through the thick panes. I heard a loud crack. Turning to the opposite side of the room Whisperer was trying to break the glass with the last of his magic; the panes cracked but didn't fall through. Like Lathain he caught my eyes and shook his head. Even if they got in to the room they'd never leave, the rift would re-open and more insects would enter. They would never survive.

I pulled the pin. The mage in his chant did not see, the brotherhood either did not know what I was doing or did not think it mattered. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

The grenade rolled from my now open palm and went off. I felt the intense heat and each tiny piece of shrapnel that flew outwards through my body. My ear drums felt like they had burst and I saw, rather than heard the glass walls blow outwards. The mantis bugs blown clear of the circle landed in unceremonious heaps all dead, the last mage was now unrecognisable, his body blown to pieces, every inch covered in blood. Glass rained down around me and added to the carnage on the floor. The tiles cracked the circle destroyed.

I saw Lathain sprinting towards me, Whisperer close behind. Lathain reached me first, his arms to wrap around me passed through me and he fell on the other side of me. Whisperer slowed and stared, his mouth moving but I couldn't hear the questions. Slowly I dropped the spell I had cast. Lifting my feet above the debris one at a time as they re-materialised, the last thing I needed was to re-appear with a bar through my foot. I gave a weak smile as Lathain regained his footing and hugged me hard from behind.

Whisperer laughed, but I couldn't hear a sound except for the ringing in my ears, Lathain didn't let go of me until I slapped his hands away. "We should get out of here" I said Whisperer pulled a palm pad from his pocket. The screen cracked but readable.

 _Are you alright?_ He typed

"Yes, I'm fine, just blew my ears out" I explained

 _How did you do that?_

"Magic" I teased and laughed as Lathain snatched the palm pad from Whisperer and typed furiously at the screen

 _Don't you ever do that again! I was worried sick, I thought you were dead!_ Lathain's face was a mixture of anger and joy, he all but thrust the pad into my face.

"They don't call me 'Ghost' for nothing" I told him, tipping my head to one side as the ringing in my ears seemed to get louder, I hissed in pain and shook my head to try and clear it but to no avail "We'd better move" I prompted again.

Lathain snatched up my bow, the string frayed but not yet broken I tested it. The force wouldn't be as strong but it still worked.

Whisperer disappeared a moment and came back holding several cans of liquid, he splashed the bottles over what was left of the circle and the brotherhood. The fluid smelled of rubbing alcohol and cleaning solutions, he mimed clicking his fingers at me and I nodded, sending out a small charge I lit the pools of liquid. I let Lathain lead due to being deaf as we followed the edges of the building, using fire escape stairs wherever we could, there didn't seem to be anyone else about, but the pace Lathain set told me there was chatter on the comm. that might say otherwise.

We hit the ground floor and Lathain edged open a fire exit to look down the alley. At the opening outside the entrance to the building a large crowd had gathered to watch the attempts of the fire crew and guards. Whisperer beckoned to the opposite side of the alleyway and we ran where he led. Squeezing between two buildings he led us to a grate in the middle of an alleyway. After checking it was all clear he opened it and gestured we should go inside. Lathain grimaced but dropped down anyway. So this was how Whisperer had entered Chicago

"Very hygienic" I said to him as we waded through the sewer tunnels, Lathain stepping gingerly lest he stand on a mutated rat. Whisperer simply shrugged at me.

It was several hours before we made it back to the corridor, sliding through pipes and cracks in the sewer brickwork. I wished and wished that my nose had been the sense out of action, rather than my hearing. When we got the surface again night had fallen. The large troll that guarded the entrance regarded us with suspicious eyes, taking in our beaten and haggard appearance. The six of clubs pinned to her collar the troll paused only momentarily to let us past, her keen eyes spotting the joker card nestled in Whisperer's palm.

We met the others back at The Professor's office. KC and Convoy had showered and looked miles better for their troubles. KC asked me dozens of questions, ignoring my frantic waves until Whisperer pulled her aside. I looked about the room. Wizbit was lying on the stretcher we had brought Cakador in, his wounds being seen to by a she-elf, he gave us a smile and waved, his hand smacked back down by the doctor working on him.

I went to shower whilst Lathain filled the rest of the team in. The hot spray felt divine, and I spent an hour cleaning my cuts and rubbing my skin raw. KC entered to place a stack of clothes on the side. My jeans from earlier had been cleaned, but my top had been useless, instead a man's shirt sat neatly folded. It was white and smelled faintly of lemongrass.

I combed my hair and let it dry naturally padding barefoot into the office. The she-elf was waiting for me and prompted that I should sit. KC was relaxed on the sofa in the corner reading a magazine, but no one else was about. She gently eased me to lie down on another sofa as she hovered her palm above my chest. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I got the impression I should relax. I must have relaxed a great deal because I was asleep in moments.


	31. Chapter 31

When I woke Whisperer was sat where KC had been, the she-elf had gone and a heavy jacket covered me.

"I didn't want you to get cold" Whisperer said. I sat up and drew the jacket around me, the windows just showing the first sign of light, I had slept all night

"Thank you" I said, bringing my knees up to hug them to my chest

"Got your hearing back I see" he laughed

"It's tinny and sounds like I have water in my ears but so far so good" I replied "Where is everyone?"

"They're all fast out" he said "everyone is beat"

"You're not asleep" I noted, he laughed softly, as if afraid the sound of his voice would wake the others

"I've been awake about ten minutes" he said "Everyone's in the other room still dreaming"

"How are they?" I asked "I wasn't exactly in a position to ask when we arrived"

"they're as well as can be expected" he said adjusting the glasses on his nose "Wizbit was bleeding internally, but a couple of pints of blood and he's on the mend, Convoy is going to be ok, he's mostly traumatised rather than physically injured, though he took a hell of a whack to the head. Lathain has several broken ribs, broken collar bone, couple of broken fingers, cracked cheek bone, fractured sternum and . . ." he trailed off, his fingers counting the many injuries ". . . I forget what else, but other than those he's fine and will make a full recovery once the bones are set. Ariana isn't able to heal him properly due to the amount of tech he has inside him" he explained "KC has several major fractures too" he said "she's still full of sass though so I doubt its permanent" he laughed

"What about you?" I asked

"No worse than you, couple of cracked ribs and the rest is superficial surface wounds coupled with major magic drain"

"Lucky" I murmured,

He smiled at me "you could say that" he said

"So what was this thing you wanted to tell me" I asked "why did you take over the Joker?"

He pulled the joker card from his pocket, along with several others. He stood and walked to where my things had been folded and pulled out the ten of clubs, the blood now dry and brown, he moved to sit beside me and handed me the ten of clubs

"Pick a card any card" he joked, I took the card and turned it over in my hands, it seemed like any other ordinary card to me "peel away the back" he said. I slid my fingernail between the back of the card and the laminate. The laminate lifted away cleanly, something etched into the film I held it up to the light.

"It's a micro chip" I said

"It's a data storage on the A52" Whisperer corrected "each player has a chip on them telling the other A52's who they are and what their designation is" he pulled out his palm pad and took the film; placing on the screen he scanned the chip. "The ten of clubs hasn't reported in for several days" he said "not since I collared him in the corridor at least" _so that explains where the card had come from_ , I thought. "I have here" Whisperer continued "an organisation chart showing me the name and identity of each card in play" the screen showed four tiers, one for each suit

"Why are some in grey?" I asked

"These are the cards that either haven't been filled, or those which are MIA" he explained, "in this I can see who holds each position and how long they've held it" he tapped on a large troll picture holding the seat of the ten of clubs. He went into a menu and a profile of three faces appeared "these are all the people who are, or were the ten of clubs" he said "the weird thing about this revolves around the kings and the joker" he said tapping on the King of Diamonds

"Where's the data?" I asked the screen showed no face, no information, only a date that the account had gone down, six years ago. I looked hard at the date and tried not to let Whisperer see my surprise.

"The data is gone for the kings, for all of them" he said "they all logged off on this day six years ago and no one has found them since"

"Why did no one take their place?" I asked

"Because the bio on their cards remain active" Whisperer said "this says that whoever they are they're still alive, at least Diamond, Heart and Spade, the King of Clubs has been dead for nearly three years, but from what I can gather in the files the rumours are they rose to higher stations and could no longer be associated with the affiliate" he pulled out back to the organisation chart "But only a few weeks later we see the Joker make his first appearance" he clicked on the Joker card, showing the face of Whisperer himself. But the archive shot showed a man with hard to describe features, I felt as thought I had seen him before but couldn't place where. I was remembering the drake on the bus; the image of the man in my mind from the bus was blurred in the same way that this man's face seemed to when I closed my eyes.

"You think the Kings stepped aside for him to take over?" I asked

"Possibly, though the way the A52 began to operate after that changed, they went from a runner community to being more involved with gaining power" he said "it's more likely that the Joker took advantage of their absence"

"So why did I need to see this?" I asked; I looked at the screen. I knew why of course, but I wanted to know how much Whisperer knew

"Lathain told me you be interested" he said "that you might know who the King of Diamonds is, _or was_ " he added, I spent a few moments staring at the screen wondering what to say

"I can think of someone that went from having barely any power to suddenly owning a huge megacorp uncontested" I said "I worked a job recently against one of the subsidiaries" it wouldn't do to hide what I knew, but I could bend it a little. Whisperer's brow creased in thought

"Engen" he said "you think Strykerius Fisher is the King of Diamonds?" he was putting the pieces together faster than I had imagined. He turned to me in disbelief " _you're_ the ones that took out Pharmatech with Lathain" he said "So when Lathain said you blew up a building, he actually meant _that_ building" I nodded, let him connect me with the runner community, but hopefully he wouldn't dig any deeper.

"Pharmatech changed hands around that time" I told him pointing to the screen "It makes sense, and Strykerius moved up the ladder to full CEO and Engen was officially classed as a Mega Corp in its own right" I said

"And as a Mega Corp he has the dragons to watch out for, so he needs to clean up his image" Whisperer guessed "just need to work out the others then" he said, I shrugged

"What the suits mean again?"

"Diamond is communications, spades for assault, clubs for magic and hearts I have since found was for healing and the sciences, the higher the card the more influence the player" he said I racked my brain thinking of my step father's ties to see if I could correlate anyone else but failed

"I have nothing" I admitted "but I'll keep an eye open for cards in the future" I watched him pack away the cards and chips "So what are you going to do now?" I asked "as the joker I mean?" he gave me a slight smile

"I'm going to re-build the deck" he said "make it more like it used to be, a community rather than mercenaries for hire"

"It's a pretty big challenge" I said "but I'm sure you'll manage just fine" he smiled again, nervousness creeping into his eyes

"You know" he said hesitantly "you could help me with the rebuild" he said "I could use people like you" he looked hopeful, but his smile faded when he saw my face "Well I'd better get some more sleep" he said faking a yawn "if you change your mind you know where to find me" he handed me an old fashioned business card that read _Blade's Tavern_

"Thanks" I said, he padded off to the other room leaving me alone with my thoughts.


	32. Chapter 32

I tried to get back to sleep, but with the light creeping back into the room it was soon impossible. I slipped on my shoes and went to find food.

The café was open as I had expected, places like these never shut. I ordered breakfast and a large coffee; a young man took my order, the girl from before probably at home still studying for her exams. I used the comm. unit round the corner on my way back to the office. Lindsey's face appeared on the screen.

"You're alive" he said, sounding surprised

"No thanks to you lot" I said, I held up a piece of the weapon "next time I want all the intel _before_ you send me on a mission" I said "It's been destroyed, there's nothing left" I tucked the fragment back in my pocket "If I find out that you knew anything other than what you told me I promise I will kill you myself" I said "And as for Torrin, if I happen to see his name crop up in connection with yours again then there are no prizes for guessing what I'll be doing"

Lindsey regarded me with those bright emerald eyes of his; he looked for a second like he would press for more information but then thought better of it. "Payment will be in your accounts within the hour" he said "thank you for your assistance" the screen went dark and I huffed, hopefully that would be the last I saw of him.

My return to Detroit was a welcome one. The door on my apartment had indeed been fixed as promised and careful inspection revealed that they hadn't even bothered to place bugs to listen in.

"Thanks for this" KC said setting a small pack on the sofa "I wasn't sure where else I would go"

"Happy to have you" I said with a smile, surprised in myself that I really meant it. The woman was crazy, foul mouthed and crude, but she was a friend and I didn't see those aspects of her personality as bad, more like qualities. "Torrin will be here soon with the welcome wagon" I warned, she shrugged and stretched out on the sofa

"So long as I get to go shopping after this and buy some new clothes I am all good" she laughed.

Torrin arrived twenty minutes later. Mei-Juu wrapped around his shoulders, it didn't take long to establish that Lindsey's team had in fact been lying. "You need to stop sending me strays" Torrin complained "Soma and Kumara are in the wind and should be safe" he said. It had seemed so long ago that the rookie and his partner had blasted through my door. I was happy for them

We settled in to eat, KC initially was not pleased that Mei-Juu was part of the package deal, but soon gave in to his antics and spent most of the movie feeding him titbits from her plate. She was fast asleep by the end, the scruff ball curled up on her lap.

"So" Torrin said "Why don't you tell me what happened" and I did, I told him about the break in, the base, the train, the Affiliate 52 and the rift. I even told him about Whisperer, though felt it better to leave a few details out. He listened intently until the wee hours of the morning.


	33. Chapter 33

Epilogue

Three months later. . .

Country music blared in the kitchen, the batter in the mixing bowl almost to the right consistency

 _Good,_ I thought, _my arm is killing me_.

Perhaps a Japanese cheesecake by hand hadn't been the best idea after all. The oven timer pinged ready and I poured the batter into a pan which sat in a dish of hot water. The whole lot went in the oven. _She's is going to love this_ , I thought.

The doorbell rang.

Odd? I wasn't expecting anyone. I pulled the pink apron from my neck and hung it on the nail on the wall. I paused only a moment on my way to the door to pull my spare pistol from under the table, the weapon tiny in my clawed hands.

The bell rang again as I reached the door. I opened it to find a man stood there. He wore a long coat, his dark hair long enough to fall into his eyes which were bright blue, held behind a pair of thick rimmed glasses, a slight scar ran down his left cheek. He was armed, two heavy Lugar pistols sat on his belt.

"You took your time Joker" I said stepping aside to let the man in

"You're a hard man to find" came the reply

"That's the general idea" I watched the joker step into the living room and take in the bare surrounds, simple living, the only colour belonged to the apron and large painting of a white river dragon.

"I didn't know you could paint" the Joker said conversationally

"I don't"

"She's very good" The Joker said, filling in the gap immediately. I said nothing "Does she know?" he asked he nodded to the bible on the table, the king of diamonds held the page, the edges frayed and tattered.

"She'll figure it out eventually" I said, the Joker looked hard at me, trying to see what I was thinking

"I take it you went underground when you found her" he guessed, I said nothing "And the others too" he looked to the windowsill where a basil plant was struggling to grow "you know you gave up a lot for her"

"That's not how we see it" I said, the Joker nodded thoughtfully. "Why are you here?" I asked

"I wanted to know if you'd come back to the fold" he said "I was going to ask her to join, we need a new king of clubs"

I shook my head "She'll say no" I told him, his stone face broke just a little then and he smiled slightly "she already did" I guessed, he looked me right in the eye and nodded "taught her well then" I said with a little pride

"Very well" he agreed

"I won't let you drag her into this" I warned him "I'm not about to put her in harm's way"

"On that second point we are very much in agreement" he said "This position is one best shared, one being shouldn't have so much power" he said. He gave me a slight smile and walked towards door to see himself out.

"Isn't that the thing with the Joker in a deck of cards?" I said as he stepped out onto the street, he turned his blue eyes to meet my yellow ones. "There are always two"

 **A/N:** Hi guys, thanks for reading this latest adventure, I hope you enjoyed it. As you can guess from the random characters that presented themsleves several of the team came and went in short succession. I need to say a big shout out to George in particular George: I'm sorry I wrote your character out but he was soooooooooo annoying but I promise I made your next one super ace.

The next campaign follows on six months after this, and was very short, I think it lased one session. But it lay the ground for the the next big campaign which I'm just putting the finishing touches to, the next one called Metahuman and Me will be up pretty much straight away

Let me know what you guys think, place a review or PM me with any comments or improvements

Cheers xx


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